The last promotion in the police force conducted by the immediate past board of the Police Service Commission (PSC) between May and June, 2018, is believed to be under review by the current board of the commission.

The exercise was alleged to have been fraught with favouritism and lack of merit.

A very reliable source close to the new chairman of the board, retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alhaji Musiliu Smith, disclosed this to Daily Independent over the weekend.

The source hinted that the commission’s new board members, on assumption of duty in July, received myriad of petitions from serving police officers who were said to be aggrieved over what they claimed to be lopsided promotions.

Daily Independent reports that some of those who petitioned the commission claimed that when the list of promoted officers was released, their names were not among the successful officers even when they were due for promotion.

They insisted that their names were omitted because they could not induce some influential officers.

Our source disclosed that in view of the weight of the petitions, the new board had decided to reexamine them.

“We cannot ignore them. We are going to critically examine the petitions,” the source affirmed.

The source, however, hinted that “it is not going to be a total swipe; those who merit their promotions will retain their ranks.”

Specifically, the source frowned at some officers who were promoted twice within one year, while some others who had spent three to five years on one rank without blemish in their records were denied.

“You can imagine the case of the Force PRO (Public Relations Officer, DCP Jimoh Moshood), he was a CSP (Chief Superintendent of Police) last year and now he is a DC, while some of his mates are still CSPs. Things are not done that way. Anyway, we are going to compile names of those who do not merit their promotions and revert them. We have a lot of work to do to restore the old glory of the police. It is going to be a gradual process,” the source disclosed.

Asked if Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), would agree to the demotion plan, especially as it may affect his spokesman, the source asked rhetorically: “The IGP and the Chairman, who is higher?”

Earlier, a former commissioner in the last board of PSC, Comfort Obi, reportedly defended Moshood’s promotion. She was said to have explained that Moshood was promoted to meet up with the rank of his counterparts in the military and in other security agencies.

According to Daily Independent, those slated for demotion included the Principal Chief Security Officer (PCSO) to President Muhammadu Buhari and Commissioner of Police (CP) Abdulkareem Dauda, who was among those whose promotion in June attracted grumblings in the police because he was alleged not to be due for promotion.

The promotion exercise that elevated Dauda from the rank of a DCP to a CP also saw the elevation of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, to the rank of CP. However, it was learnt that Magu and many others merit their promotions.

It was also gathered that apart from Buhari’s PCSO Dauda, Force PRO Jimoh Moshood, the axe of demotion may hit Lagos State CP, Edgar Imohinmi.

Last Friday, Smith met with the police management team led by IGP Idris.

During the meeting, he reportedly warned that promotions in the police would no longer be on ethnic balancing or favouritism, but purely on merit.

He reportedly said officers must attend promotional courses and must pass promotional examinations before the commission would approve their promotions.

“Henceforth, result of performance of officers from appropriate training courses must be attached to the recommendation to the commission for promotion; if not, the recommendation will not be considered.”

•Excerpted from a Daily Independent report

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