Former President Olusegun Obasanjo argued that a civilian, not a retired police officer, should head the Police Service Commission (PSC). He made the remark on Thursday during the public presentation of *Policing the Nigeria Police*, a book by Simon Okeke, the first appointed chair of the PSC, in Abuja. As chair of the event, Obasanjo said, “The police must be policed by a strong civilian community, not by the police themselves. If that is addressed, I believe we will get a better police force than we have today.” He warned that appointing a retired policeman to lead the commission is “like asking a thief to catch a thief,” because internal jealousies and biases would surface.
Obasanjo noted that the PSC’s mandate is clearly defined in the Police Act of 2001, which also outlines the functions of the Inspector‑General (IG). He pointed out that the Senate recently confirmed former IG Solomon Arase (retired) as the new PSC Chairman, following his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari (retired). The Senate approved the nomination within 24 hours. The appointment comes amid a continuing power struggle between the IG, Usman Baba, and the PSC over recruitment, appointments, transfers, and promotions. The IG has repeatedly clashed with the commission, most recently over the recruitment of constables and the transfer or promotion of eleven newly appointed Commissioners of Police.
The PSC directed Baba to have officers due for promotion appear for an interview at its plenary last Friday, where the transfers of Frank Mba and Idowu Owohunwa to Ogun and Lagos states, respectively, would be decided. In a letter dated 30 January 2023, the IG objected to the deployment of the commissioners and asked the commission to suspend its plenary until Arase assumed office. Earlier, Baba had asked the commission to halt promotion interviews for CPs and DCPs pending the arrival of the new PSC Chairman. Arase, a retired IG, was appointed substantive chairman by President Buhari last month, and his appointment has been approved by the Senate; he is expected to be sworn in soon. He will replace acting chairman Justice Clara Ogunbiyi, a retired Supreme Court Justice, who succeeded Musiliu Smith after his September 2022 resignation on health grounds.
Obasanjo said the book not only chronicles Okeke’s tenure but also highlights the challenges and root causes of the rift between the Nigerian Police and the PSC. He argued that the recurring reluctance of past and present IGs to accept the commission’s oversight stems from appointing former police personnel to lead the PSC. “From the book, and as a former president, I know these acts. The IGs tend to want to take more than their mandate allows,” he said. “The head of the commission must be a civilian, not a retired police officer. A retired officer can be a member, but not the head.”
The former president emphasized that the PSC wields enormous powers over the Nigeria Police and that reforms are needed. Regarding Nigeria’s federal structure, he asserted that a unitary police force contradicts federalism and that the police should be a service, not a force. He called for training and retraining of police professionals and condemned the practice of assigning officers to private duties, noting that out of 380,000 officers, 180,000 are engaged in corrupt private work. Obasanjo recommended licensing private security firms to handle protection duties for both authorized and unauthorized individuals.
Finally, he urged the president to implement state police to better safeguard lives and property at the state level. While acknowledging concerns that state police could be abused by governors, he argued that the central government also abuses the police and suggested guidelines to minimize potential abuse by state authorities.
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