The Presidency had been less than forthcoming since Monday, when Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar Adamu clocked 35 years in service and was due to retire. Several other top police officers who were Adamu’s course mates were also due to retire. All of them were however seen in their uniforms on Monday, and Adamu held meetings with top police officers. The next day he was seen at Abuja airport welcoming President Buhari back from Daura.
Social media does not tolerate news vacuum. On Tuesday, a post went viral, saying Adamu handed over to DIG Operations Sanusi Lemu. Another viral post alleged that Buhari appointed AIG Zanna Mustapha as acting IGP. Both posts turned out to be fake. After 48 more hours of uncertainty, Police Affairs Minister Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi announced that Adamu got a three-month extension. The reason, he said, was to allow time for proper selection of a successor.
Many questions arise from this action or inaction, as the case may be. Is the extension legal under the amended Police Act? Why did it take four days to make it? What becomes of Adamu’s course mates; did they also get extensions? Why does the Presidency need three months to select a new IG, when it can choose anyone of the current DIGs or AIGs? Or if it needs three months, why wasn’t the process started earlier, since it was well known that Adamu will clock 35 years in service on February 1?
The most important question however is, what will IG Adamu accomplish in these three months? Will he unroll new crime fighting strategies, will he make a dent in the level of insecurity in many parts of the country, and will he be able to ignore and ward off inevitable murmurings from his colleagues occasioned by his tenure extension? Will he be distracted by intensified scheming to succeed him when the three months are up on May 1? Is Uncertainty At The Top [of the police force] good enough at a time of insecurity turmoil?
