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Authorities of the
Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja, have denied
reports of grumbles by some officers over the restoration of the rank
to the former chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu.

A newspaper had, on
Tuesday, speculated about the existence of a discontent in the force
with regard to the restoration of police rank and subsequent retirement
of Mr. Ribadu, who was promoted over two ranks to the position of
Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) by the administration of former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Police Service
Commission subsequently demoted Mr. Ribadu to the rank of Deputy
Commissioner (DC), after criticising the rapid promotion during the
heat of the war orchestrated against Mr. Ribadu by the administration
of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Responding to the
report in an interview with NEXT, the Deputy Force Public Relations
Officer, Yemi Ajayi, described it as a figment of the reporter’s
imagination that is untrue of the present reality in the police.

“It is not to the
knowledge of the Nigeria Police Force leadership that there is a rumble
over anything, whatsoever,” Mr Ajayi said.

“It is not true.
Such a conclusion must have originated from the reporter’s imagination.
The Nigeria Police Force is a disciplined organisation of credible and
patriotic personnel. If any police personnel is not satisfied over the
way anything is being done in the force, there are ways and means of
registering his or her dissatisfaction within legal provisions made for
such reaction instead of grumbling.”

According to the
report, some unnamed officers of the force were reported to be
grumbling over the restoration of the rank of Mr. Ribadu who, according
to the Minister of Police Affairs, had appealed for a fair and just
review of his case in a letter to the Police Service Commission.

Furthermore, the
report persuasively argued that Ribadu’s case should not have been
reviewed justly, especially as it did not include the cases of the
other police officers who were demoted along with Ribadu.

Contrary to the
argument of the report, however, a civil society group, Journalists for
Social Justice, has hailed the government of President Goodluck
Jonathan for restoring Mr. Ribadu’s rank.

Restore other officers’ ranks

In a statement
signed by one Benedict Ahanonu and made available to our correspondent
in Abuja, the group also implored Mr. Jonathan to reconsider the plight
of the remaining officers who were not included in the PSC rank
restoration.

“(T)he
administrative reversal of that demoralising exercise is one of the
populist decisions that will endear the government of Goodluck Jonathan
to the masses. It will also go a long way in showcasing the
administration and the PSC leadership as one that value superior
reasoning, justice and fairness, and respects public opinion,” the
group said.

“Unfortunately,
while we celebrate this courageous act by the Presidency and the Police
Service Commission, we must not forget that aside of Ribadu, about
three hundred other officers demoted along with him on the same faulty
logic are still in police service. Consequently, to completely reverse
this act of injustice and close this sordid chapter in the history of
the Nigeria Police, our amiable President and the Police Service
Commission should be magnanimous and fair enough to also restore the
ranks of those other officers who were demoted along with Ribadu.”

The group also
absolved Mr. Obasanjo of any wrong doing in approving the rapid
promotion of the gallant officers, in the first place, arguing that the
former president did so in his powers under the Constitution as head of
Police Council, and in his powers under Section 6 (1) (g) and Section
19 of the Police Service Commission Act 2001, empowering the president
on general directives to the commission in relation to its functions
with which the commission must comply.