The All Progressives Congress (APC) Thursday stated that the Nigeria Police Force is one of the most abused national institutions by those running government affairs
APC in a statement from the National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this in a press released issued in Abuja, while advising the newly appointed Inspector General of Polce, Mr. Solomon Arase to shun partisan politics.
According to the party Arase should approach his new task with a high level of professionalism and shun the kind of crass partisanship that has dragged key national institutions of state, especially the police, into the partisan fray.
Also, APC stated that the Acting IGP should learn from the fate that befell his predecessors who, under their watch, turned the police into the enforcement arm of the ruling party, thus allowing the institution to be wantonly used to thwart the will of the people and act in ways that negate its constitutional mandate of maintaining law and order.
Mohammed said: “Arase must realize that he will be judged solely by the direction to which he takes the police, which is one of the most abused national institutions by those who have been at the helms of the nation’s affairs since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
”We do not know the reason for the sack of the immediate past IGP, but we have read, just like other Nigerians, that it might not be unconnected with the role he either played or did not play in the last general elections. What we do know is that the police force under the former IG was a major actor in the massive rigging and violence that characterized the elections in some parts of the country, especially
in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto and Gombe states just to mention a few.
”Now, Mr. Arase faces perhaps the biggest test in his new capacity with the supplementary elections coming up in Abia, Imo and Taraba. We do hope he will not allow the police under him to be used to thwart the will of the people in those states or to give cover to those who will engage in violence. Any IG worth his salt does not need to pander
to the President or the ruling party in carrying out his duties. All he has to do is to make sure the police carries out its statutory duties in accordance with the law and without fear or favour”.The party said it does not believe the rumours making the rounds that the new Acting IGP was appointed to facilitate victory for the PDP in those supplementary elections, saying, in any case, that whatever may be the reason for his appointment, he should realize that Nigerians have now reached a level where they will not allow anyone, whether in uniform or not, to either prevent them from exercising their franchise or to collude with politicians to ensure that their votes do not count.”
