A member of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Najatu Mohammed, has called for the total overhaul of the Nigeria Police to address the indiscipline in the force.
Contacted to speak on Kyari’s case, she said the commission was not functional, adding that the mandate of the PSC had been “sold out”.
She said: “The commission does not recruit, promote and discipline. The constitutional mandate of the PSC has been sold out.
“They even pad promotion. After plenary, you see that the list is padded, they include names. We asked them to stop special promotion but they are still doing it through the backdoor.
“Of what use is the PSC? It is impotent; it is not functional and that is why there is so much indiscipline in the police force. And this is why we cannot address the insecurity challenge. PSC is not doing its job.
“We have been fighting over this. As it is now, the fundamental function of the PSC has been sold out,” she said.
Another source at the commission said the latest revelation about Kyari was not only shocking but that it showed there were so many atrocities being perpetrated by officers.
“I was shocked that someone that is awaiting judgement, so to say, from the PSC and somebody that has been on suspension for months would commit another crime of this magnitude. It is so shocking; it means that there are many unpleasant things that are going on.
“The commission cannot do anything; what can it do when the investigation is being done by the police? Yes, we have a department of investigation but there is nothing it can do, the role has been hijacked,” the source added.
“There is much corruption in the PSC. The PSC should not be led by a retired police officer. Because his mindset is that of police. The PSC Act allows for other calibre of people to chair the commission, not necessarily a retired police officer,” the source said.
Daily Trust reports that the PSC is being chaired by Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police.
It would be recalled that in the aftermath of the US government’s indictment of Kyari last year, IGP Baba set up a panel on August 1 headed by the Deputy IGP in-charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Joseph Egbunike.
The Egbunike panel took months working on the case before turning in a report that sources at the PSC described as “shallow” and stopped short of exonerating Kyari of all wrongdoings.
But both the PSC and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation expressed dissatisfaction with the report with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, recommending “more thorough dissecting and tracing” of the proceeds of crimes.
Malami opined that a prima facie case for money laundering was established against the suspended police officer.
“Though the panel did find him guilty of misconduct, they largely abandoned the substantive matter of his working in cahoots with criminals and other more grievous allegations.
“The PSC members were disappointed and found the report unacceptable,” said a senior official familiar with the matter.
Dissatisfied with the submitted report and riding on the AGF’s recommendation, the PSC, last month, ordered the police to conduct a fresh probe into the matter and submit a report, within two weeks, to the PSC Standing Committee on Discipline for review. However, over four weeks after the directive, the police management was yet to submit any report over what insiders said was a continuation of pressure against “sacrificing” the senior police officer.
Irked by the delay in turning in the fresh report, the PSC at its meeting last week demanded that the police authorities must submit the report within two weeks. According to an insider, the latest scandal around Kyari also assumed a similar pattern with senior police officers moving in to protect him from being investigated by the NDLEA.