NATIONAL: Competence, not ethnicity, informs appointment of IGP – Shehu

THE Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has said his principal allowed competence to take precedence over ethnicity in appointing the new service chiefs.

Shehu said this while reacting to the calls by interest groups, predominantly constituted by Igbo, for an Inspector General of Police from the South-East.

These groups, which was eventually supported by a Northern Coalition of Elders, argued that for the sake of fairness, the President should make a Nigerian of Southeastern extraction to succeed the current Inspector-General of Police.

The calls have heightened as the present IGP, Abubakar Adamu, is expected to leave the office today, having reached the mandatory retirement age.

The demand heightened last week when President Buhari appointed four new service chiefs:  Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff (Delta State); Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff (Kaduna State); Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff (Kano State); and Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff (Osun State).

But Shehu said there was no better way for the President to display fairness than what he did with his recent appointment of service chiefs.

He stressed that having two appointments each from the South and the North reflected the president’s penchant for fairness.

While featuring on Channel Television’s Sunrise Daily, Shehu said, “The language that is being used is that there should be an Igbo service chief and this is a country with more than 250 ethnic groups. If you are going to appoint a service chief from every ethnic group in this country, you are going to have more than 250 Inspector General of Police, 250 Chief of Army Staff, 250 Chief of Naval Staff. Things are not going to work like that.

“If we said that we are going to use ethnicity or religion as the basis, then, we have lost it. This is about law and order and not about ethnic identity.

“Look at what happened with the service chiefs appointed now – two from the South, two from the North. If you are talking about religion, two Muslims, two Christians.”

On the decision to be taken on Adamu who reached the retirement age today, Shehu said, “I haven’t spoken with the president but if I read his mind correctly, the president would rather have an Inspector General of Police who would make you and I safer, who would protect lives and property than one who is more pronounced by his tribal marks.

He said the President would decide on the fate of Adamu when he returns to Aso Villa from Daura, Katsina State later this week.