EXECUTIVE BRIEFING How Not to Fight Corruption
The decision of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to file a suit to stop the Senate from investigating him for alleged corruption does not bode well for the fight against corruption, writes Davidson Iriekpen
Already jittery over how he will face senators over weighty allegations levelled against him by Senator Isa Misau, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, last week rushed to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, to secure an order restraining the Senate Committee from investigating him.
Idris, in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed before the court, is seeking a restraining order against the Senate President and the entire Senate from receiving and discussing any report submitted to it by the committee set up to investigate the allegations of corruption against him.
Misau, the senator representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District, had recently accused the police chief of corruption, running a ‘bribe for promotion and for special deployment’ scheme, having sexual relations with his subordinates and other weighty accusations.
Soon after the accusations were made, the Senate constituted a seven-man ad hoc committee to investigate the allegations. The committee is chaired by Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Francis Alimikhena (Edo North).
But Idris in an attempt to stop the investigation, is asking the court to stop the committee, saying “Without the senate president having regard to the relevant constitutional requirements in respect of the Senate’s role in investigations of allegations, he in reaction to these frivolous allegations quickly constituted a committee consisting members of the Senate to look into the matter.”
Misau, who retired in 2010 as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and the police were recently embroiled in a public spat after the lawmaker in an interview, accused Idris of collecting between N10 million and N15 million from police officers for postings as state commissioners or mopol commanders, in addition to him pocketing about N10 billion monthly from the deployment of over 50,000 policemen to oil companies, banks, and private individuals who make regular payments to police authorities.
The senator who said he was ever ready to submit documentary evidence to back his various claims of corruption, misappropriation and other unscrupulous activities of the IG, said the police generate an average of N10 billion monthly from the scheme without any penny remitted into the federation account.
According to him, aside from huge sums generated from corporate organisations and important personalities who require police protection, the IG, he said, has also formed the habit of attaching policemen to known criminals like drug dealers who can pay for the services of having police orderly. He said more than 50,000 men of the police are being used as “body guards” while the common man on the streets are left without protection.
According to him, police under Idris is “a cesspool of corruption, nepotism, indiscipline, favouritism and lowest level of morale that must not be allowed to continue in the interest of the on-going anti-corruption war and there is urgent need to stem the tide of increasing rate of crime and criminality in the country.
“Let me give you an example of the so many corruption cases that are taking place. More than 10,000 policemen are working with the oil companies and every month the companies are paying money. Where is the money going? Is the money going into the federal government’s coffers or into some people’s pockets? We have over 10,000 officers working in banks. Are they paying money to the federal government? Who are they paying the money to? Where is the money? We have policemen in thousands working for companies and private individuals. Go to the airports and you will see that people of questionable character have policemen attached to them. Are they paying money to the federal government? Why should the federal government train a policeman, give him uniform and gun; and then he is passed to an individual who will not pay anything to the federal government. Is that right under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration?
“Last week an organisation accused the Nigeria Police of bribery amounting to N400billion. Am I the person who said it?
“By the United Nations’ standard, one policeman should be for 400 people but in Nigeria, one policeman is to 800 people. Even with that, you will find out that one businessman or oil marketer is having about 30 policemen, thereby depleting the ratio we are already in shortage of.
“On the issue of special promotion by the IG and the Police Service Commission (PSC), it is in the open. The rank goes with responsibility and it goes with money because it leads to increase in salary and allowances. “It has even gone worse. The IG is having relationships with two policewomen, who he promoted under special promotion. One of them is Aminat and the other is a DSP. The IG last month got married to that woman but under the police service rules and regulations, you cannot marry a serving officer unless the person retires. He quickly did a secret wedding in Kaduna because the lady was four months pregnant. I am saying all these because of the institution, because we have so many excellent officers who are now demoralised; who are now frustrated because of the activities of the IG. When it comes to appointment of police commissioners, the IG decided to have his own boys who are just Assistant Commissioners of Police. He will give them special promotion to Deputy Commissioner of Police,” Misau added.
Since the allegations were made against his person, the IG has not personally responded to them. The only response came from the Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood. who did not really address the issues raised by the senator order than attacking his person. Moshood dispelled the senator’s claims and also claimed that the lawmaker deserted the force, and was declared wanted, an allegation, he later recanted.
Till date, the IG has not told Nigerians if the thousands of policemen guarding oil companies, banks, oil servicing companies and private individuals are for free. All over the federation, Nigerians are aware that these companies and private individuals pay money to police every month, where do these monies go to?
Idris, like many of his predecessors, have hidden on the pretext that the police, by virtue of the constitution, are not a revenue generating organisation, an as such, are not revenue generating agencies fleecing the country of billions of naira.
This is why many Nigerians are at a loss why the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have not invited the IG for interrogation. They wondering why the former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, Chief of Air Staff, Amosu are standing trial if not for the same offence. They also wonder why the IG should be allowed to pocket the huge sum of money every month instead of paying same into the federation account or using same to augment the poor funding of the force by the federal government.
Idris emerged IG in a controversial circumstance in 2016 following his role in the 2015 general election where he was alleged to have seriously assisted the All Progressives Congress attain power. Since then, he has not relented. On many occasions, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has accused him of playing politics with security by giving police cover to members of the party in the state. To buttress Misau’s ‘bribe for promotion and for special deployment’, Wike has also accused him of planting the SARS commander, Akin Fakorede, in the state to shield members of the party from prosecution and to destabilise his government. Despite the spate of killings, kidnapping and robbery in the state, the IG has not bothered to redeploy Fakorede and restructure the security architecture of the state.
In Edo State, the crime rate has increased based on the allegation that the IG specially wants his man to be redeployed to the state, thereby confirming Misau’s allegations of bribery before posting.
Many observers believe that what is happening today in the police is due to lack of leadership in the force. Most frequently, the federal government chooses to deploy military to assignments constitutionally the functions of the police.
Ironically, the same IG who has rushed to court to stop the Senate from investigating him, has filed two separate set of charges against Misau. While the charge borders on forging false documents comprising affidavits and declaration of age he deposed to at the Bauchi State Health Management Board birth certificate and FCT high court and submitting these documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2011 and 2014 when he ran for public office, the second charge borders on making false statements that police officers pay N2.5 million to get special promotion and posting and also claiming that N10 billion is being received by Idris from oil companies and banks.
Many analysts are wondering why the IG is afraid of investigation? Does his decision to stop his investigation by the Senate not show that he has something to hide? While observers know that his decision to rush to court to stop his investigation is a ploy to stop his appearance before the Senate, they are also wondering if the court has the powers to prevent it from carrying out its constitutional assignment. Another reason why the IG might have gone court is due to the fact that before the case is concluded, he would have retired. This is why some have asked the upper legislative house to proceed with its investigation.
It is for this reason that an anti-corruption group, United Global Resolve For Peace, has called on the federal government to commence immediate investigation and prosecution of the IG over the allegations.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Pelumi Olajengbesi, the group said Nigerians have lost total confidence in the police as a result of the ineptitude of its leadership. The group described as “pathetic and quite disheartening” that the Nigeria Police has degenerated in its value and ethics. According to him, “there is an urgent need for the federal government to investigate and prosecute, if necessary, Idris, as there has been an unimaginable scale of corruption in the country’s police organisation since he took over leadership.”