Ohanaeze Assembly, Intersociety want Igbo man as next IGP

President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide, Basil Onuorah, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently appoint an Igbo man as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to give the zone a sense of belonging in the Nigeria project.

The lawyer made this known yesterday in a chat with The Guardian, while reacting to appointment of new service chiefs without the Igbo.

The new service chiefs are Maj-Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS); Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff (COAS); RAdm. Awwal Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS); and AVM Ishiaka Amao, Chief of Air Staff.

According to Onuorah, since the incumbent IGP is due for retirement, the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government should consider an Igbo man as his successor.

He said: “If there is no Igbo man or woman qualified for the job of IGP, the President should promote the Igbo next in line in the police force to fit into the position.”

Faulting the insinuation that the new CDS is an Igbo man, he noted that “Irabor is not an Igbo name,” but from the South South.

MEANWHILE, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (InterSociety) has said that the imminent exit of the IGP, three Deputy IGPs and 10 Assistant IGPs is a good opportunity to address the nagging issue of Igbo exclusion, among other glaring injustices in police promotions.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the civil society organisation, Emeka Umeagbalasi, yesterday, called on the Police Service Commission (PSC) to expeditiously address other glaring injustices in the entire promotions in the force, especially those that led to public outcries in the December 18, 2020 promotion by the commission.

He tasked PSC chaired by retired IGP, Musiliu Smith, to address the hateful exclusion of Igbo/South East from senior police ranks, especially in the AIG category, and abysmal allocation of slots to the region, in clear contravention of Sections 14 (3) and 42 of the Constitution.

Admitting that “though PSC lacks power to determine the next IGP or appoint same,” he observed that the body was empowered by law to promote serving police officers into the ranks of “Constable to DIG, other than IGP”, and that among serving AIGs or DIGs, next IGP would statutorily emerge.