Police Council Confirms Arase IGP. 21 Days after his April 21 Appointment as Acting IGP, The Fastest in Recent Times.

The Police Council presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday confirmed the appointment of Solomon Arase as the substantive inspector general of police (IGP).

Arase who was appointed acting IGP in April following the controversial sacking of his predecessor, Suleiman Abba, will go into the country’s history as the IGP whose period of service in acting capacity was the shortest.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and former IGP, Mr Mike Okiro, has declared that the former IGP, Mr Suleiman Abba, was sacked by President Jonathan because of the indiscipline that infiltrated the rank and file of the police force under his watch.

Arase had hinted journalists about his confirmation after the meeting of the Police Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, immediately after the Council of State meeting.

IGP Arase gave the assurance that no Nigerian would suffer any form of injustice in the country as a result of his actions or inactions as police boss.

Noting that his ban on road blocks across the country would be implemented to the letter, he said 16 teams had been deployed to several parts of the country in that regard. He also stated that the welfare of officers and men was top on his priority list.

“To my men, I will tell them that their welfare will be number one on my cardinal responsibilities. You don’t motivate a workforce except their welfare is paramount. I’m going to ensure that their welfare is going to be put on the front burner,” he said.

He further disclosed that the Police Council at its meeting discussed the security challenges in the country and the strategic response in addressing them.

On the cause of former IGP Suleiman’s removal, PSC chairman and former IGP, Mr Okiro, said: “At the meeting there he (Jonathan) tried to explain to members, based on the question raised by one of the governors that Nigerians may want to know why the former IGP was removed.

“The president, in very brief way, said during the period of the former IGP, a lot of indiscipline was noticed among the rank and file of the police and, as such, he felt that a new IG should come and try his luck. That is what he said, though I cannot give details of that.”