Buhari
Juliana Francis
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), today 19th December 2022, accused President Muhammadu Buhari of continually violating Nigerian laws through his actions and inaction on some important national matters.
Speaking to a crop of journalists in Gowon Estate, Lagos State, the Executive Director of RULAAC, Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma, while x-raying topical human rights violation issues in Nigeria in 2022, mentioned Buhari as also being liable for his refusal to convene the Nigeria Police Council.
Making a presentation of major human rights and security issues that shaped the Year 2022, Nwanguma said that the disappearance of arms and ammunition from police armoury earlier this year and the failure of the police hierarchy to explain or account for them was worrisome.
Nwanguma noted that the Auditor-General of the Federation, in a report to the National Assembly, revealed the disappearance of Arms from the Nigeria Police Armoury.
The report revealed that 178,459 arms and ammunition were found missing from the Nigeria police armoury.
“There was further information in a report by a researcher for the European Union which stated that the 12-year-long insurgency was powered by state-owned arms carted by terrorists after attacks on military bases, which were then used to fight the state. Long after these scandalous revelations hit the headlines and were still trending, the Nigeria Police authorities did not respond. Neither the Minister of Police Affairs nor the President said anything by way of demanding an explanation from the police hierarchy. I don’t know if anyone of you is aware that the police eventually responded to this scandal,” argued Nwanguma.
According to him, Nigerians deserved to know because it was about their resources and their safety and security.
He said that just months to the end of Buhari’s two terms as President and in spite of his promise to lead the fight against insecurity from the front, as a retired military General, “need we look further to understand why insecurity continues to grow under this incompetent regime?”
He added that such incidents of missing arms and ammunition should be a cause for national concern and should also have warranted an emergency meeting of the Nigeria Police Council.
But rather than address the issue, the silence of a graveyard has been the response from the police quarters and Nigeria Police Council.
Nwanguma said: “Recall that the Police Council is a constitutional body whose functions, as elaborated in the Police Act 2020, is composed of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as chairman, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the governors of the states of the Federation and the FCT.
“Aside from its constitutional and legal mandate of advising the President on the appointment of a new Inspector General of Police when there is a vacancy, the Council is also mandated under both the Constitution and the Police Act to meet twice yearly to receive reports on the State of security across the country and to advice the President on ways to tackle insecurity. It is a platform that gives the state governors the opportunity to make input to tackling insecurity.
“But we are not aware that the President has convened the police council for once since he came into office and two years after he signed the Police Act into law, as required by law. In many instances, the President has violated the constitution and the Police Act.
“Recall that the president initially extended the tenure of the immediate past IGP Mohammed Adamu and later removed him to appoint the current IGP Baba Ahmed Alkali- all actions carried out in flagrant violation of both the Constitution and the new Police Act 2020 which require that the president must seek the advice of the Police Council.
“The governors have also stood aloof failing to take advantage and utilize the opportunity accorded them by law to contribute to decisions regarding security and the appointment of an IGP when there is a vacancy. The President is mandated to convene the police council for a specified number of times in a year. Failure to do so is a violation of the law.”
Nwanguma mentioned that throughout 2022, reports remained rife about millions of arms in wide circulation, in the hands of non-state actors including bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, and armed robbers.
He added: “While Boko Haram terrorists and bandits continued to terrorise fellow citizens in the North, Nigerians in the South-East continued to live with the tragic reality of so-called “unknown gunmen” Senseless attacks on police and INEC infrastructure continued with the police largely lacking in capacity to defend themselves, let alone defend fellow citizens. The disappearance of police arms and ammunition raised security concerns. It’s a red flag for corruption and likely complicity in crimes by those charged with the responsibility for keeping police arms.”
