Sen. Isa Misau has widened his muck-raking in the Nigeria police as he testified before the Senate Adhoc Committee on Investigation of Allegations Against the Police, OGP, and the Police Service Commission
Misau said IGP Ibrahim Idris gave two Sports Utility Vehicles to the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, and that ran afoul of the 2017 Appropriation.
“I still have some contract papers that the IG himself submitted to the court, where the First Lady through her aide-de-camp requested a Toyota Hiace and a Sienna jeep. The same day that the ADC wrote, the IG minuted that she should be given two jeeps. And it is not part of the appropriation,” he said.
“The most unfortunate thing is that even in the letter, the ADC wrote that they wanted the vehicles for her private engagements; they wrote that they wanted Sienna and Hiace and the IG said they should be given two jeeps. And he supplied the document to the court.”
The Bauchi senator also alleged that Lagos Acting Commissioner of Police Edgal Imohimi was posted to Lagos State because he was a classmate to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
Citing the Lagos case, he said there is a lot of favouritism in the promotion and appointment of commissioners of police. Junior deputy commissioners of police are given Commissioner of Police on acting capacity as against seniority and merit.
“The reason why they took him to Lagos was because he is a friend to the governor of Lagos,” Misau added.
Misau further testified that the retirement date of the IGP Police boss has been manipulated.
“I have a copy of the Staff List of when he became IG and I have another one of when he was an Assistant Commissioner of Police, which show that the dates are different,” he said.
The lawmaker also accused Idris of awarding contracts worth over N2bn to a Peugeot car dealer to acquire Toyota cars. That was in addition to citing the investigation by the House of Representatives, which indicted the Police boss for alleged diversion of funds in the 2016 budget of the security outfit.
“He essentially runs the police like a personal property by applying police resources and valuable assets to personal use by his children and close associates,” he told the committee
The senator buttressed his earlier allegation that the police under Idris’ leadership were being paid for security services to organisations and individuals.
Misau asked the panel to ask the Central Bank of Nigeria to furnish it with the statement of a “GL Account,” which, according to him, is meant for bank managers from where they draw money to run their branches.
“Apart from that, the CBN governor around June and July of this year directed all commercial banks to give money to police in hundreds of millions – every commercial bank. That money runs into billions.”
The APC senator is already in court—having being sued by the federal government when he first went public with the allegation.