Juliana Francis
Chairman of the Police Service
Commission)PSC), Sir Mike Okiro has countered what he described as allegations
made against him by former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission(EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
In a statement, Okiro said that he was shocked to read in one of the dailies,
disparaging statement made by the EFCC ex-chairman against him.
 |
| Okiro |
Okiro said: “I was tempted as usual to
dismiss the allegations as mere ranting.
But the locus where the remarks were made and the slanderous nature of
the utterances demand that I should react swiftly to enlighten both Nigerian
and foreign media on the truth of the matter.”
 |
| Ribadu |
The state further states: “Nuhu Ribadu
while giving evidence in the case involving James Ibori in London said “Okiro
withdrew my official car and police security”.
This is very far from the truth.
Nuhu Ribadu went on a course to National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies (NIPSS). He was not posted
out of EFCC. His Deputy, Ibrahim Lamorde
was acting and holding forth. The
vehicle(s) he was using belonged to EFCC where he was Chairman for about six
years and could not have been withdrawn by the Police. The policemen he used as his security were
those posted permanently to EFCC.
Therefore the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had no role in their
internal daily deployment.
“Thirdly Nuhu Ribadu was on course as
Assistant Inspector-General of Police and statutorily had to maintain his
paraphernalia of security details.
Nigerians will remember that Nuhu Ribadu once caused a newspaper
publication to be made to the effect that he was attacked and shot at on his
way to NIPSS but was saved because he was driving a bullet proof vehicle and
the attackers could not stop him. He
said that he suspected a retired Inspector-General of Police who had been
monitoring him. I was then serving as
IGP. I was angry that a serving
Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) or even any AIG at all or a VIP,
for that matter, was shot at and I was not briefed. I called him several times to give me details
but he refused to pick my calls.
“I then sent signals to Commissioners of
Police (CP) FCT Abuja, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau, the likely state commands
where the incident could have taken place.
They all replied that no such incident in their commands. Since I could not reach him, I addressed a
press conference where I stated that his claim of attack was false. I took that advantage also to ask him
publicly to come up with details of the day and time and where the incident
took place. Nuhu Ribadu never came up as
directed. For him to turn round now and
say that I was involved “in attempts to assassinate him” demonstrated the
double speak for which he is shamefully known.
He was an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) under me. Why must I want to assassinate a subordinate
officer?”
According to Okiro, Nuhu Ribadu said “he
was there when James Ibori nominated Mike Okiro to be IGP”, but Okiro also
kicked against that statement, saying: “Well I was not there myself and cannot
confirm or refute the claims. I am just
hearing it now, for the first time. If
he was there did he oppose it? I was
appointed IGP on merit and seniority.
Two years ago, after my retirement, Nuhu Ribadu told some of his friends
that he did not obey my instructions and directives when I was IGP because he
had been pencilled to take over as IGP from IGP Sunday Ehindero and he had been
factored and positioned for the office when I came and usurped it, as if I
appointed myself IGP. He claimed that he
regarded me as an interloper who took the position reserved for him and so
despised me and whatever I stood for.”
Okiro said alleged that Ribadu said in
London that he “never respected” him, which the PSC chairman said was ‘This is
unfortunate.’
“In my culture, we were brought up and
trained to respect our seniors. I am
Nuhu Ribadu’s senior in all outward manifestations and ramifications. I am older than him in age. I joined the Police before him. In fact, when he was a cadet Assistant
Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Police College Ikeja, I was already a Chief
Superintendent of Police (CSP) and a member of Staff of the College and he passed
under my tutelage,; railed Okiro. “I was
his senior in rank. When he was a Superintendent of Police (SP), under CP Felix
Ogbaudu in Force CID, Abuja I was the Commissioner of Police Lagos State. When he was AIG I was IGP. I am more educated than him if educational
qualification was contested. I will not
ask for, but demand for respect from Nuhu Ribadu as of right. For him to openly confess that he did not
respect me evidently shows the kind of character he is. He is undisciplined. My people say “if you do not respect your
seniors, God will not put you in a position where you will command respect”
“Nuhu Ribadu said that I am “the most
corrupt police officer” he had ever seen.
Corruption is a cankerworm and is embedded in the person. It is not developed over night. I moved from ASP to IGP, from Divisional
Crime Officer (DCO), Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Assistant Commissioner of
Police (ACP) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Operations (Ops),
Commissioner of Police Lagos State, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Operations,
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Works, etc.
I held positions of responsibility and trust. Nuhu Ribadu should come up with facts, even
if manufactured or cooked up by him to prove his allegation. If there were any such evidence why did he
not take action against me as he had done in the past against a retired IGP?”
No comments:
Post a Comment