The National Assembly Tuesday passed a vote of no confidence on the Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris over the police’s inability to curtail the killings, largely, by suspected herdsmen in North Central and for the Force’s role in what it claims to be the harassment of “political opponents, people with contrary opinions.”
The National Assembly said in a statement after a joint executive session of the leaders of both the Senate and House of Representatives that President Muhammadu Buhari must give marching orders to all security agencies to “curtail the sustained killing of Nigerians across the country and protect lives and properties.”
This is not the first time the National Assembly will score the inspector-general of police Ibrahim Idris low after spurning Senate’s invitations to appear before it.
Last month, the Senate described Idris as an “enemy of democracy, unfit to hold any public office within and outside Nigeria.”
The police said there was nowhere in the Nigerian Constitution where the IGP is mandated to appear in person before the Senate.
Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said in a statement that “In accordance with the extant laws in Nigeria, the functions, duties and responsibilities of the Inspector General of Police, as stated in Section 215(1a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and the Police Act and Regulations Section 309(1) can also be carried out as mentioned in sections 7(1),312(1), 313(2) of the Police Act and Regulations by a senior officer of the Force of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police or Assistant Inspector General of Police who, if permitted by the Inspector General of Police to act on his behalf or represent him in an official capacity at any official function, event or programme within and outside Nigeria, can do so in consonance with the provisions of the Police Act and Regulations.”
The relationship between the Nigerian and the Senate got to a new low on Sunday when the police said it had invited the Senate President for questioning over his relationship with leaders of a robbery gang that killed 33 persons in an armed robbery attack in Offa last in April.
“Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki is being invited by the Nigeria Police Force… to answer to the allegations levelled against him from the confessions of the five gang leaders,” Moshood said in a statement on Sunday.
He said the gang leaders confessed to be working for Saraki as “political thugs under the name Youth Liberation Movement a.k.a. ‘Good Boys’.”
They also “admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed.”
Moshood said a Lexus jeep purportedly owned by Saraki and used during the robberies had been traced to the government office in Ilorin, Kwara’s state capital and two of the governor’s personal aides had also been arrested.
“Investigation is ongoing and effort is being intensified to arrest other suspects still at large. All suspects involved will be arraigned in court for prosecution on completion of investigation,” he added.
But Saraki denied having any relationship with the robbers.
He accused Idris of planning to frame him and called on the public “to disregard this claim as a baseless allegation”.
“Let it be known that there is no way I could have been associated with armed robbery against my people,” he said.
“When the Offa robbery incident happened, I was the first top public official to pay a visit to the place and right there in the palace of the traditional ruler, I put a call through to this same Mr Ibrahim Idris, the IGP (Inspector General of police), requesting him to make certain specific security arrangements as demanded by the people,” he added.
And on Tuesday, the National Assembly doubled down on Senate’s low view of the inspector-general of police for doing “nothing other than preside over the killing of innocent Nigerian and consistent framing up of perceived political opponents of the President and outright disregard for constitutional authority, both executive and legislative.”
