Controversy and outrage have trailed the “undue” promotions given to Ayoola Oladunni and Usman Shugaba, the aides-de-camp to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari respectively.
Reports also suggest there is growing disquiet among ranks of the Nigeria Police Force following promotion.
Both Oladunni and Shugaba were promoted recently to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) from their previous rank of Chief Superintendents of Police (CSP) by the Police Service Commission (PSC) with the recommendation from the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba.
The duo who started their career in 2002 as Cadet Inspectors joined the force with their Senior Secondary School Certificate while their colleagues with first degrees who joined the force at the same time are still CSPs.
Further checks showed that colleagues of the two security aides were graduates before joining the force in 2002 and they began their careers as Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs). This indicates they were only promoted three times while the two ADCs were promoted five times.
In an ideal situation, an officer who joins the force as a Cadet Inspector rises through the ranks five times from Inspector to ASP; from ASP to DSP; from DSP to SP; from SP to CSP before finally clinching ACP rank.
On the other hand, an officer who joins the force as a Cadet ASP also rises through the ranks three times before clinching CSP rank. This means from ASP to DSP; from DSP to SP and then from SP to CSP, Daily Trust reported.
While some officials in the force, who spoke to Daily Trust last night, said promotion is done every four years, others said it is done after every three years but it was learnt that it could be given based on performance or other considerations.
However, the recent development, which angered some officers in the force generated ill feelings, with many officers grumbling that prioritising favouritism over “merit and due process” would not only dampen their morale but be dangerous for the policing system of the country.
One of the aggrieved officers, who spoke to Daily Trust anonymously because of retribution said, “One of the reasons different sectors in this country are in comatose is because of this type of scenario, where due processes are not followed.
“In fact, it is one of the reasons security challenges are escalating in this country. Anytime a security agent or any officer thinks about his future and realises that there is no hope because a lot of things have been bastardised, all he would do was to look for a way out.”
A senior police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said though the two newly promoted police officers could be happy with their promotion, it could count against them in the future.
“It could not be a problem now but when in future an issue of promotion comes, they look at how they actually got to where they are. Remember that was one of the arguments made against former ADC to President Jonathan, DIG Jitoboh, which stopped him from becoming IGP. Some people questioned his accelerated promotions,” he said.
Lopsided promotion killing discipline – Retired CP
Speaking on the development, a former Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Lawrence Alobi, said lopsided promotion is not good for the image of the force.
The former commissioner said that such a primordial consideration in promotion kills discipline within the force.
According to him, “It is not supposed to be so, because as a Cadet Inspector, you have to be first confirmed as an inspector.
“For me, it is surprising that an Inspector should even overtake an ASP to become an ACP while the Cadet ASP is still a CSP. That is lopsidedness and it is not supposed to be so.
“Honestly, it is very demoralising, and it kills discipline too. What outstanding job did the person perform to have that kind of speedy promotion over a cadet ASP to other ACP rank?”
Alobi called on the PSC and the Inspector-General of Police to ensure that such anomaly is corrected in order to redeem the image of the institution.
“They should follow the due process, and when the process is followed, it will make people understand that they need to learn how to do the right thing,” he said.
‘Morale is gone in police’
Commenting on the development, a disgruntled police officer, who resigned last year, said unmerited promotions have dampened the morale of police officers and men in the country.
He said the situation if left unchecked, would worsen the deplorable situation of the police and by extension the security situation.
“It is not limited to the two you mentioned. They are plenty. They are there at the (force) headquarters. You have a two-star and then someone who was an Inspector would now become a DSP and you won’t get the DSP. He was just an Inspector. So how do you reconcile this kind of thing? That is what is going on.
“Security has been bastardised. Look at the case of Shugaba, when did he join the force? What was his rank before he became the ADC to Governor Yahaya Bello? I left the police because I felt that my future is bleak and I have to look for something else.
“Our own job is a regimented kind of job that you have to salute somebody. If you lost seniority, not by your own making; if it’s in the military you have to leave the job because you cannot salute your junior. That is the true situation of it,” he said.
To address the situation, he said the special promotion should be discarded and that all officers and men of the NPF should be subjected to promotion examination.
“So, when it comes to promotion, you have to go for the course and when you pass the exams you will be promoted and if you don’t pass you lost your seniority. So nobody should be given a promotion like that. That would boost personnel morale to read and to study and also to know the job very well so that one doesn’t stay behind,” he said.
Grievances not new
Recall that in 2017, Senator Isah Hamma Misau had asked the Department of State Service (DSS) to conduct an independent investigation into the bribery allegation against the police and Police Service Commission (PSC).
Misau, a retired police officer had alleged that police officers pay as much as N2.5m to get special promotions through the PSC. The allegation, Daily Trust reports generated controversies with the police force summoning him.
In February, a commissioner of the PSC told this paper that the promotion list of police officers was being padded.
“They even pad promotion. After plenary, you see that the list is padded they include names. We asked them to stop the special promotions 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 impotent and it 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,” the commissioner said.
Aggrieved officers should write formal complaints – IGP; PSC mum
The Chairman, Police Service Commission, Musiliu Smith could not be reached for comment as calls to his known mobile phone did not connect.
The spokesman for the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, told Daily Trust that he had no information regarding the development.
“I don’t have any comments on that. The information is not before me,” Ani simply told our correspondent via telephone.
But the IGP, through the spokesman for the force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, explained that police do not deal with faceless people, directing all aggrieved officers to notify the force formally in writing.
Adejobi a Chief Superintendent of Police, stressed that the authority of the force might not get it resolved if there is no formal complaint.
He said, “We don’t deal with ghosts in the police. Are they ghosts? If they have issues, let them come out and let us know them first. Then, we will know who and who, let us check our records. Let them write officially to us. We will now find out whether it is true or not.
“This can’t be resolved through anonymous means. Anonymous can’t be fighting for position. Give your number! You will say AP number so so…was enlisted in so year and explain that my juniors are now my seniors, then, we will go and check the records. With that, we will know where to start,” he told DailyTrust.