Ribadu And All That

Comfort Obi

Let me start by saying that I am, proudly, a member of the Parry Osayande-led Police Service Commission (PSC), which has suddenly been making headline news. Never in the history of the Commission has it attracted so much attention. This is good news. It means that we are getting somewhere; that perhaps, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), an organisation hated with so much passion, but which incidentally, the passionate haters cannot do without, is finally doing something positive. But permit me to catch my breath a little. It has not been possible to do that since the sudden attention on the PSC began.
My phones have rang no end. My Message box is filled up. But the interesting thing: most of those getting in touch with me, especially Police Officers, just want to say congratulations and thank the PSC for rekindling confidence in an organisationn which they thought had been reduced to a man-know-man. The others, my colleagues in the media, are calling to simply do their job. They are asking questions, and confirming what they had heard or thought. Beautiful. So, why is the PSC suddenly making headline news?
The reason, which I guess most of you must either have heard, or read about, is simple. The PSC exercised its constitutional right and reduced in rank, 140 police officers whose promotion was not only irregular, but a brazen breach of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But perhaps, this laudable action may not have attracted so much attention if the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, was not among the officers demoted.
The way Ribadu’s known friends, admirers, associates, and those who never see good in anything unless they are in charge are reacting, you would think that the bond holding Nigeria has been broken, and that Heavens have fallen. Not true. None of that has happened. Instead, what has happened is that some people are deliberately finding faults where there is none. They are whipping up ethnic sentiments where there should be none. They are condemning an injustice which has just been courageously redressed. And one is left wondering and asking: What do they want?
The story began on August 5 when the PSC, after a thorough investigation which spanned weeks, and a robust discussion which took a whole day, almost, decided to right the wrongs and put a stop to the disquiet and grumbling in the NPF by demoting the 140 officers. Here is the story, and why the PSC demoted the officers.
Following the return of our dear country, Nigeria to democratic governance on May 29, 1999, Section 153(1)(m) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as elaborated by Part I of the Third Schedule provided for the establishment of a Police Service Commission (PSC) as a Federal Executive Body. The PSC was given powers to appoint persons to offices (other than to the office of the Inspector-General of Police) in the Nigeria Police Force. It was also given the powers to dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding any office in the Police, except the Inspector-General of Police.
The Police Service Commission (Establishment) Act 2001 which became operational on January 14, 2001, elaborates the constitutional provisions on which the PSC’s establishment is based. Section 6(1) of the Act provides that the Commission shall, among other things, be responsible for the following:
*The appointment and promotion of persons to offices (other than the office of the Inspector-General of Police) in the Nigeria Police.
*Dismiss and Exercise disciplinary control over persons (other than the Inspector-General of Police) in the Nigeria Police.
*Formulate policies and guidelines for the appointment, promotion, discipline and dismissal of officers of the Nigeria Police.
Based on the above, any appointment, discipline, dismissal or promotion done without passing through the PSC is null and void. That explains why when the Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, retired Kyrien Dudari, a DIG of Police, without recourse to the PSC, Okiro was asked by the PSC to recall him from retirement. He did. Dudari was reinstated, and only retired after the PSC investigated his case, gave him a fair hearing, and found him guilty as charged.
The case of Ribadu and the 139 others falls in the same category. For whatever reasons, the former Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Ehindero, promoted the officers without a recourse to the PSC. When he did that, Ehindero knew very well that he had no right, no constitutional powers to promote them. He knew the promotions were illegal. He knew that when the chips are down, it would eventually be corrected. He knew he had sowed the seeds of injustice and indiscipline in the NPF which he led. He was the head of the NPF then, and knew the rules guiding promotions. The questions are: Why did he flout the rules? Was there no PSC in place then? Certainly there was. So, why did he not go through it. From where did he get clearance? If, in the case of Ribadu, for example, he was under pressure from the Presidency, why did he not advise the President on the rules and regulations? I mean, that was one of his jobs. A police man is meant to keep and obey the laws of the land and not to break it. The only reason why we have this mess at hand is that Ehindero brazenly broke the laws of the land. The fate which has become the lot of the demoted officers should be placed squarely on Ehindero’s shoulders. He should be called to question.
Ribadu is a fine and courageous officer. As the EFCC boss, he did a commendable job. The only areas I disagreed with him was his habit of criminalising people on the pages of newspapers; his habit of finding people guilty without a law court saying so. Even when he had a good case, atimes he destroyed them by talking too much. So, atimes, he jumped the gun. But these do not becloud the fact that he led the EFCC with courage. He deserves the commendations which many Nigerians showered on him, and continue to shower on him. Definitely, his country is proud of him. Definitely, the NPF is proud of his achievements at the EFCC. But that does not mean that an illegality should be allowed to stand because Ribadu is involved. Ribadu’s unusual rapid promotion smacks, almost, of corruption – a cancerous vice which he fought with all he had at the EFCC. In any other institution, would Ribadu have supported that unusual promotion?
Enlisted into the NPF on February 1, 1986, Ribadu was promoted to the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), on February 1, 2003. By October 2005, he was promoted to the rank of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, (DCP). On December 18, 2006, a little over one year after his promotion to DCP, he was promoted to the rank of a Commissioner of Police, CP. As if to rub it in, on April 9, 2007, barely four months after he was promoted to a CP, he was promoted to the rank of an Assistant Inspector-General of Police. The last time Ribadu’s promotion passed through the PSC was when he was promoted to a DCP. The last two was what you could call “American wonder." Meanwhile, under the police, the law is that an officer must stay on a rank for a minimum of three years and have a good Annual Performance Evaluation Report, APER, before the next promotion. This other day when the PSC held interviews to promote officers from ACP to DCP, from DCP to CP, and considered the promotion of AIGs to DIGs, I was shocked to find out that some of them had stayed on a rank for eight years. And these are brilliant officers. A couple with Ph.Ds, a few others with First Class degrees and distinctions in their Masters Degrees. Why were they not promoted to their next ranks? Did they need to have a godfather to be promoted? They had no query whatsoever in their files. No reprimand. Nothing. Among scores of others, let me cite just one example.
There is one Ibrahim Abdu. On the DCP Seniority list, he is No 12. Ribadu was on the same seniority list with Abdu as No 129. Abdu was promoted to the rank of a DCP on January 22, 2002. Ribadu was promoted to a DCP, remember, on February 2, 2003. Meaning: Abdu was promoted before him. But look at this. Abdu was promoted to the rank of a CP only on June 12, 2008! When he appeared before the PSC for his promotional interview, one of us, after looking at his file asked him: What did you do wrong? He smiled helplessly, and answered: “Nothing Sir.”
Of course, there could be special cases. I have heard people argue that Ribadu’s case was special because he did a good job. Of course he did, but what made it special? With all due respect, there are a lot of Ribadus in the NPF. Problem is, they have not been given a chance. Afterall, we didn’t know his capabilities until he was given a chance at the EFCC. We didn’t know about Professor Dora Akunyili until she was given a chance at NAFDAC. And there are many Dora Akunyilis waiting to be given a chance to prove themselves. Even then, the NPF has guidelines for such special promotion. It must be based on exceptional performance such as acts of gallantry and bravery, and not just for one merely doing one's normal job.
Ribadu was courageous at the EFCC, but he was doing the normal job for which he was appointed the EFCC chairman. And he has gained from it. His profile has risen. He is now known all over the world. Criminals are afraid of him. His C.V. has been enriched. And he has been praised to high heavens by appreciative Nigerians. Why shouldn't he wait for a normal promotion? It will eventually come. He may well, with level-headedness, end up one day as the IG of police. Problem is, some people have elevated Ribadu to a celebrity. Wrong. He is a security officer. Security Officers don’t talk too much. They let their jobs speak for them. They don’t hug the headlines. They don’t talk at the drop of a hat. They are rarely seen. They are rarely known. Not many people know their faces.
While condemning the demotion of the 140 police officers, the Afenifere, in a statement added a ridiculous ethnic angle to it. They gave the impression that it is a Northern agenda, arguing that the bulk of the officers demoted are Yoruba. Good. That tells a story. Why are they making it obvious that, perhaps, the officers were promoted because Ehindero, a Yoruba, was the IGP? Afenifere is accusing Ehindero of ethnic bias. Could that be why Ibrahim Abdu, a Northerner, was not promoted to a CP by Ehindero? Is Ribadu, the “star” of this uproar, a Yoruba? Is Parry Osayande, DIG, Rtd, Chairman of the Police Service Commission, a Northerner? Is Okiro a Northerner? What is Afenifere talking about?
The other point it raised is that Okiro ought to have been demoted too, for allegedly being a beneficiary of such a promotion. Not true. Afenifere does not know the story, nor the background of Okiro’s promotion. For those who may think like them, here is the story.
Yes, Okiro was promoted from CP to the rank of a DIG, but it is not the same as that of the 140 officers. The promotion of officers to the ranks of the IG and DIGs are political. From the rank of an AIG down is not. For the DIGs, every geo-political zone is entitled to one. In a zone where there is no AIG to be promoted to a DIG, the most senior officer from that zone is promoted to a DIG to represent his or her zone. Both Okiro and DIG Ogbonnaya Onovo benefited from that. And so did a few others. Okiro and Onovo, as CPs, were the most senior officers from their zones – the South south and the South east. That is the story.
Definitely, I feel for the 140 police officers, especially Ribadu. We are all human beings. Having been wearing the rank of an AIG since April 2007, it cannot be easy to revert to the rank of a DCP. The irrepressible Gani Fawehinmi describes Ribadu’s demotion as “absolutely bizarre,” and a punishment for honesty. I think not. Punishment? Why? Bizzare? My opinion: It is those who promoted him illegally that committed an “absolutely bizarre” offence. Definitely not the PSC which is trying to remedy a rather messy situation.
As for the reference to Haz Iwendi of blessed memory? He will be promoted post-humously. The investigation into the bizzare promotions had started before his death. When the findings came, it was not possible to remove his name from the pack. His entitlement will be paid to him as a full-fledged Police Commissioner. He was a good, brilliant officer. But back to Ribadu.
He should not allow those who cry louder than the bereaved to push him into what he does not want to do. It will, of course, be difficult initially, but he is a courageous officer. He is brilliant. Age is on his side. He may well become the IGP one day. Who knows.