Onwubiko welcomes Smith’s resignation, wants southerner as next PSC boss
Kicks against appointment of ex-IGP as chairman
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Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Friday, welcomed the resignation of IGP Musiliu Smith (retd) as the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
HURIWA described his exit as a golden opportunity to restructure the Commission along its constitutional mandates of recruiting constables and taking disciplinary action against erring police officers.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, thereby demanded that the next substantive Chairman of the PSC should be appointed from the Southern part of Nigeria, particularly the South-West in line with the principle of federal character and equity.
Following Smith’s resignation, the Management of the Commission on September 14, 2022, nominated a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi, as the acting Chairman pending the appointment of a new Chairman by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
Comrade Onwubiko noted that already, there is a glaring ethnic imbalance in the top echelon on police hierarchy in Nigeria with the lopsidedness in favour of northerners.
For instance, he said, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, Suleiman Abba, is a northerner just as the NPTF Secretary, Abdullahi Bala.
Similarly, the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, is a northerner, just as the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba.
Commenting on the resignation of Smith, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said:
“We endorse the resignation of ex-IGP Musiliu Smith (retd.) as chairman of the Police Service Commission even though we would have wished that he is investigated and prosecute if found wanting.
“HURIWA also wish to remind President Muhammadu Buhari that the vacancy in the commission now with the exit of Smith belongs to the South-West zone and should not be allotted to Northern NIGERIA again because the North-West and North-East and other parts of North already have their slots occupied at the commission except the South-West.
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“The acting Charman, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi (retd.), who just step in to act for the mean time occupies the position of North-East because she is from the North-East.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should appoint a public administrator of high reputation as PSC substantive chairman.
“The President should appoint a bridge-builder who understands his job as PSC chairman so that the many conflicts between the PSC and the Nigeria Police Force will be a thing of the past, especially who should be responsible for the recruitment, promotion, and appointment of constables and officers.
“On no account should a former police officer be made chairman of the PSC if that constitutional body created to instill sanity and professional discipline is to be allowed to work.
“All past chairmen who are former Deputy Inspector General of Police or Inspector General of Police cumulatively undermine and killed off the independence of the PSC,” he concluded. Read more.
