Ringim is scheduled to leave office by March 2012 when he would have attained the mandatory 35 years in service.

Already, six Deputy Inspectors-General of Police are eyeing the IG’s post, which is the crowning glory of their careers.

The seventh contender, DIG Ganiyu Dawodu, passed on last week in Lagos and would be buried on Saturday (today).

The appointment of the IG is usually done by the Nigeria Police Council, which is headed by the President and composed of the 36 state governors and relevant top government functionaries, including the Minister of Police Affairs and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.

The contenders for the position are Mrs. Ivy Okoronkwo, Mr. Azubuko Udah (both representing South-East geopolitical zone), Alhaji Sadauna Abubakar, (from the North-West zone), Audu Abubakar (North-East), Mohammed Yesufu (South-South) and Saleh Abubakar (North-Central).

Ringim, who became the 15th indigenous IG on September 8, 2010, following the sacking of his erstwhile boss, Ogbonna Onovo, by President Goodluck Jonathan, joined the Nigeria Police Force on March 1, 1977, rising through the ranks to become the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 9 that oversees police activities in Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Imo states.

Under the current dispensation, one of the DIGs is to serve as the number two person in the police hierarchy unlike in the past, and the position was given to the first female DIG, Okoronkwo.

She had survived the sacked Onovo-led Police Management Team involving DIGs Israel Ajao, Segun Efuntayo, Udom Ekpoudom, Declan Uzoma, John Ahmadu and Uba Ringim.

It is believed that Okoronkwo, being the most senior DIG, may get the support of the President to become the next IG as part of the deft moves by Jonathan to win public support for his government, which is facing antagonism over some of its policies.

If appointed, Okoronkwo would leave office in 2014, having joined the force in 1978 as Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police with a degree in Sociology/Criminology from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

A source in The Presidency, however, said that the President might settle for an Assistant Inspector-General of Police as he determined to appoint an officer who could manage the precarious security situation in the country.

“The President may not be looking in the direction of the DIGs at all. As he did the last time when he picked an AIG in the person of Ringim as IG, he would likely appoint an AIG, but this time around, the candidate would be more competent, vibrant and with robust security experience. All the DIGs would likely go with their boss, Ringim,” the source stated.

-Punch

Posted by admin on Dec 24 2011. Filed under General Politics, Latest Politics, Nigerian Police. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry