THe sack of the Inspector General of Police Alhaji Suleiman Abba, came as a huge surprise to a bewildered nation.
In a terse statement on Monday, Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser, Media & Publicity, to President Goodluck Jonathan announced the sack through his Twitter handle. No official reasons were offered.
However, The Rainow learnt that Abba, a former Aide-De-Camp (ADC) to the wife of a former military Head of State, Mrs Maryam Abacha, was booted out by Jonathan for various acts that verged on insubordination and questionable loyalty to the President, who is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
According to findings, the IGP disregarded instructions from the President in the recent general elections especially during the governorship elections and in several cases tended to have leaned on the side of opposition.
Some reports also indicate that the IGP also allegedly leaked the presidential directive to redeploy Assistant Inspector General Tunde Ogunsakin from Rivers State prior to the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections.
“By all intents and purposes, the IGP literarily abandoned the president as he openly sought to please APC stalwarts,” a source said.
” Abba was already working with some All Progressives Congress bigwigs to execute their agenda,” the source added.
Besides, the sacked IGP has against all professional norms literarily switched allegiance to president-elect Muhammad Buhari and has made unhidden moves to worm his way into the heart of the soon-to-be-sworn-in IGP.
He was also said to have shown open partisanship by being physically available at the presentation of Certificate of Return to the president-elect on April 01, 2015.
Sources claim that another of the sacked IGP’s misdemeanor was that he was personally going to the airport to welcome Buhari on his journeys from Daura, Katsina State to Abuja since his election as President.
The thinking in the presidency is that he should have waited for the change of government on May 29, 2015 before changing allegiance.
Abba, an alumnus of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) Kuru, hails from Gwaram Local Council of Jigawa State.
A holder of Bachelors degrees in History and Law, he has vast experience in criminal investigation, intelligence-led policing and crime-fighting operations.
Before his appointment as the IGP, he was the head of the Police Committee, vested with the responsibility to plan for the security of the 2015 general elections.
He had served as the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Deputy Force Secretary, Assistant Commissioner of Police in-charge of State CID, FCT Police Command, and before his appointment, the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in-charge of Zone 7, Abuja.
Arase was born in Sapele Delta State on June 21, 1956 but hails from Oredo Local Council of Edo State. He enlisted in the Nigerian Police December 1, 1981.
He graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1980, with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Political Science, got a Masters Degree from the University of Benin in 1998, did his Barrister at Law (BL) qualification certificate in 2001 and another LL.M in Corporate Management and Finance Law in 2004.
Also, he is a Fellow of the Nigerian Defence College (fdc).
He served as the DCP, State CID, Panti-Yaba, Lagos between 2009- 2011, CP in Akwa Ibom State Command, between August 2011 and March 2012, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Force Intelligence Bureau at the FHQ, Abuja from March 2012 to August 2014. He is married with children.
