The Nigerian Senate is considering a bill focused on the reform of the Nigeria police. The lawmakers recently held a public hearing on the ‘Bill for an Act to Repeal the Police Act, 2004 and enact the Police Act, 2018.'
An aspect of the bill seeks to make the appointment and removal of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
Sponsored by Deputy Senate Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi), the bill also provides that the seven Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIGs), as currently obtained, should be reduced to one.
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While the police, through the IGP Ibrahim Idris, agreed on the aspect of the bill which proposes 5-year tenure for an IGP, it rejected the aspect of a bill that seeks to make the appointment and removal of the IGP subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
The police also opposed the rejection of seven DIGs to one, saying one DIG would not be enough for the police to perform its functions optimally.
“The confirmation and removal of the I-G by the Senate is not necessary. It will politicise the Police Force. It should be expunged from the bill and the tenure of the I-G of five years should be maintained.
“The appointment of the I-G in consultation with Police Service Commission (PSC) is appropriate. However, there should not be any confirmation by the Senate. This is the desire and position of the Police Force.
“There should also not be one DIG. There should be seven as we have already. Having one will put too much pressure on the I-G instead of reducing the workload,” he said.
What is the opinion of Nigerians on this controversial reform of the Nigeria police? Legit.ng, Nigeria’s number one online news publisher conducted a poll on its social media platform, Facebook and Twitter, to have a feel of Nigerians’ standpoint.
On Facebook, out of about 1,300 Nigerians that participated in the poll, 74% said they are in support of the Senate's move to screen and confirm appointments of future Inspectors-general of police while 26% said they were not in support of the move.
On Twitter, 68% of Nigerians that participated in the poll supported the Senate’s move while 32% said they were against it.
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In a previous poll conducted by Legit.ng, 85% of Nigerians believe the country is not ready for a female president, with only 15% saying the country is ready.
The result of the poll shows that as the 2019 elections draw nearer, there are no indications that things may get better in terms of women participation in the nation’s politics.
The most popular female presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential election, Oby Ezekwezili, contesting on the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) is already facing acceptability issue, considering the poll's result.
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Source: Legit.ng
