The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has lashed out at President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing former Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase as the new Chairman of Police Service Commission, PSC.
President Buhari had in a letter to the Senate on Tuesday sought the lawmakers’ confirmation of the former IGP, as the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The appointment is coming against the backdrop of repeated calls for government to stop appointing retired police officers to head the Commission.
The argument is that the retired officers will not have the willpower to exercising their expected tasks which include dismissal and other disciplinary controls over persons in Nigeria Police Force.
Reacting to the appointment in a statement on Wednesday, Chairman of the Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi berated what he called the ‘floodgate of whimsical and capricious presidential appointments into Nigeria’s federal public institutions, done without recourse to the country’s democratic and cultural pluralism and moral ethics.
According to him, it has become so bad and unchecked that the country’s presidency goes about with reckless abandon flooding the country’s hallowed public institutions with dark forces and champions of barbarism as well as persons of unclean character and integrity.
“In addition to those promoting radical religiosity, ethnicity and butcheries. In the policing, security and defense establishments including their oversights, competence, professionalism, geo-balancing, merit and moral uprightness have disappeared paving ways for senior officers who masterminded or still mastermind conduct atrocities including butchering of defenseless and unarmed citizens and other forms of grave crimes against persons and properties being recklessly rewarded with plum defense, policing and security posts or appointments and postings.
“Such recent presidential appointments are gravely contrary to the country’s multicultural, religious and ethnic settings or compositions and constitutional Sections 15 (5) (impeccability of character), 10 (adoption of no state religion), 14 (3) (balanced allocation of federal office appointments), 217 (3)(balanced composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation and 42 (freedom from discrimination or disabilities).
“The worst of it all is the fact that the country’s presidency does not give a hoot over public outcries while making such appointments. A typical case in point was the recent appointment of several persons of minus and compromised characters as ‘INEC National and State Resident Electoral Commissioners’; to the extent that despite several public outcries, the Senate went ahead and confirmed them on 6th Oct 2022 as controversially nominated by the presidency,” he said.
Umeagbalasi noted that the latest unannounced appointment of Retired IGP Solomon Arase as the new Chairman of Police Service Commission defeats the very idea of establishing the Police Service Commission back in 2001 by the Obasanjo Presidency.
In his words, “The original idea was to intellectualize and sanitize the Nigeria Police Force including ensuring effective checks and balances, competence, professionalism, ethno-religious balancing and ridding the Force of chronic corruption, corrupt practices and police brutalities.
“The ‘spirit’ of PSC died when the country’s federal political authorities began to flood and appoint incompetent, immoral and corrupt retired IGPs as Chairs of PSC in quick succession.”
The civil rights advocate alleged that the Retired IGP Arase had gone into oblivion since his retirement as Nigeria’s IGP, following what he called his ‘dark days as Nigeria’s IGP.’
“As IGP, he supervised and vicariously masterminded several mass killing of unarmed and defenseless Easterners including street protesters, passersby, night vigil attendants, etc.
“His infamous “shoot at sight order” will forever be unforgotten in the annals of the country and the living and posthumous minds of living and dead Easterners.
“On 30th August 2015, he ordered and no fewer than 30 unarmed protesters were killed in Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Uyo, Calabar, Enugu and Onitsha. On 2nd Dec 2015, he ordered and 30 unarmed Easterners were killed at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead, Obodoukwu Road, Owerri Road and other parts of Onitsha. On 29th Jan 2016, he ordered and 20 unarmed Easterners were killed in Aba. On 9th Feb 2016, he ordered and not less than 30 unarmed Easterners were killed at Ngwa High School in Aba. On 29th and 30th May 2016, he ordered and 140 unarmed Easterners were massacred in Onitsha, Nkpor and Asaba.
“Intersociety hereby strongly condemns the appointment of chief conduct atrocity perpetrator, Retired IGP Solomon Arase as Chairman of the Police Service Commission and calls for his immediate resignation,” he said.
