Jonathan Didn’t Order Sack Of Police Top Chiefs – Presidency

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN (4TH L) AND  VICE PRESIDENT NAMADI SAMBO (M) WITH MEMBERS OF POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION AFTER THEIR INAUGURATION IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (NAN)
PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN (4TH L) AND VICE PRESIDENT NAMADI SAMBO (M) WITH MEMBERS OF POLICE SERVICE COMMISSION AFTER THEIR INAUGURATION IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (NAN)

Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati has debunked media reports that his boss ordered the sacking of top police officers.In a statement yesterday, Abati described news headlines suggesting that the order was given at the swearing-in of the new chairman and members of the Police Service Commission on Wednesday as a misrepresentation of the president’s remarks.

He noted that the presidency had granted access to all media organizations to reporting its activities and in return expected a much higher standard of professionalism and accuracy than that being exhibited by sections of the media.

“The thrust of the president’s remarks was that the new chairman and members of the Police Service Commission should strive to effectively  discharge their statutory function of enhancing discipline and efficiency in the service  by ensuring that performance, competence and merit are the primary criteria for career progression in the police…Jonathan was certainly not giving fresh orders or rewriting the rules when he said: ‘People who are promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police and above must merit the rank. If you don’t merit the rank, you should be retired from the service,’” Abati said.

It would be recalled that the President during the inauguration charged the PSC to look into the area of unmerited promotions in the Police service saying “People who are promoted to assistant police commissioner and above must merit the rank. If you don’t merit the rank you should be retired from the service because it is better for you not to have enough manpower than for you to have viruses and all kinds of characters in the police force.”

But Abati said that: “As all police officers and their counterparts in the Armed Forces and security agencies know, the president’s words were fully in line with existing rules and regulations guiding career progression in the services.

“The import of President Jonathan’s comments was that the new Police Service Commission and other bodies charged with overseeing the career progression of officers and other personnel in the police and security agencies should work to achieve greater competence levels in the services by upholding extant regulations without fear or discrimination… Those guilty of deliberately distorting or twisting the president’s words to promote sectional agenda and fan the embers of discord in the polity should desist from doing so,” he said.

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