The Presidency on Monday said no date had been fixed for the appointment of a new Inspector-General of Police.
The incumbent IG, Mohammed Adamu, was expected to leave office on Monday, having attained the statutory retirement age.
IGP Mohammed Adamu
However, Adamu was in office until past 6 pm on Monday and attended to many visitors.
Findings indicate that he did not hand over to any senior officer as expected.
The President was supposed to convene a meeting of the Police Council which has the mandate to appoint a new IG.
However, findings indicate that the council that comprised the President, state governors, and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, merely adopts whoever is appointed as IG by the President, contrary to its prescribed roles.
Speaking on Channels television’s Sunrise Daily, Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu said he was not aware of the imminent announcement of a new police chief.
He stated, “The President returns to Abuja (from Katsina) on Tuesday. He should be on his desk by Wednesday. I don’t know when he will do this. One thing I can assure you is that in places sensitive like that, no vacuum will subsist, so therefore, the system will take care of itself.”
Shehu also stressed that the appointment of the next IGP would not be based on ethnic considerations.
“The President will rather have an Inspector-General of Police who will make you and I safer, protect life and property than one who is more pronounced by his tribal marks,” he noted.
Shehu said it is impracticable for top security appointments to be made based on ethnicity or regions.
The spokesman added that the appointment would be based on who can best help to protect lives and property across the country.
