NATIONAL: Dele Momodu makes case for IGP of Igbo extraction

PUBLISHER of Ovation International, Dele Momodu has counselled  President Buhari on why he should appoint a replacement for outgoing Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu from the South-East geopolitical zone.

The popular journalist said that this would help assuage the fears of people of the zone who claim to have been marginalised by the current administration.

Momodu, who spoke on a Facebook Live interview today, said that the president would do the nation a whole lot of good by tapping into the ingenuity of the Igbo man in the fight against insecurity by appointing an IGP from the South-East zone.

 The calls for an Igbo IGP heightened this week after the appointment of new service chiefs from other geopolitical zones.

IGP Adamu has attained the mandatory retirement age of 60, fuelling insinuations of his imminent replacement.

Buhari appointed Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff (Delta State – South South); Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff (Kaduna State – North West); Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff (Kano State – North West); and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff (Osun State – South West).

Reacting to the call, however, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu noted that Buhari considers competence above ethno-religious considerations in the appointment of service chiefs.

But Momodu, said the president would do well to appoint an Igbo IGP so it does not appear that the Igbo “committed eternal sins by fighting the civil war which ended 51 years ago”.

“For me, I don’t care where you come from. So, why should anyone tell me an Igbo man cannot be president, an Igbo man cannot be the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff or an Igbo man cannot be the Inspector General of Police?

“I’m hearing now that the next Inspector General of Police will be a northerner or maybe they have even appointed him, I don’t know.

“How can the outgoing Inspector General of Police be a northerner and then the incoming will be a northerner? I have nothing against this but every Nigerian should be given a sense of belonging and people have complained about this. A leader must be sensitive to the yearnings of his people. That is why people are crying of marginalisation,” Momodu stated.