Suleiman Abba: An IGP Caught in a Political Web

Thursday, November 20, 2014, was an unusual day at the National Assembly, in Abuja. And many members of the House of Representatives may never forget it, at least for a very long time. Duly elected lawmakers were barred by a detachment of policemen from entering the premises of the National Assembly, where they have their […]

Thursday, November 20, 2014, was an unusual day at the National Assembly, in Abuja. And many members of the House of Representatives may never forget it, at least for a very long time. Duly elected lawmakers were barred by a detachment of policemen from entering the premises of the National Assembly, where they have their Chamber.  Hon Victor Afam Ogene (Anambra/APGA) who is the deputy chairman House Committee on Public Affairs recalled that before the lawmakers started demanding for the gate to be opened for them, some plain-clothed security men were deployed to infiltrate the lawmakers.
“As you know, lawmakers got to the National Assembly gate at different times. By the time some of us got there, we discovered that some of the security operatives on plain clothes had infiltrated us and had pepper spray on them. When we began to demand that the gate be opened, they started releasing the pepper spray on us and called for reinforcements. Remember that a former Senate President, Chuba Okadigbo, was killed in Kano after pepper spray was used on him,” Hon. Ogene said.
The lawmaker further said that the first thought that came to their mind was that some people were trying to stop the tabling of the emergency extension request. “The situation was very confusing. Some of us felt some persons were out to frustrate the House of Representatives’ consideration of the request by President Goodluck Jonathan to extend the state of emergency in the three North-East states. Some also learnt of a plot to impeach Mr. Speaker using a few members who were already in the chambers at the time.
“Again, remember that the same scenario played out on June 6, 2011 when the same police wanted to prevent the Speaker from entering the National Assembly. Who are the hoodlums, as suggested by the police – the occupants of a house or the man that invades a man’s legitimate place of work? I think the public will decide that.
“It is like seeing a man trying to steal your vehicle; you use every means possible to stop him. We acted on the spur of the moment. We had to protect our inalienable right to access the chambers. Right there, we had to contend with the threat of being bludgeoned and pepper sprayed to death. Nobody wants to be a dead hero.”
Hon Ogene (Anambra/APGA) told the story of many lawmakers who have in various ways expressed their shock at the action of the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, who prides himself as a lawyer and pro-democracy element. Born on March 22, 1959 IGP Abba holds degrees in History and Law, and was, until his appointment an Assistant Inspector General, AIG, in charge of Zone 7 Command, a position he occupied since May 25, 2012. Appointed Inspector-General on August 1, 2014, Abba had served as Aide-De-Camp (ADC), to the wife of a former military Head of State, Hajiya Maryam Abacha. He enlisted in the Nigerian police as cadet inspector on December 31, 1984 and is due for retirement on March 22, 2019. The positions he held previously included Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, FCT Command; Deputy Force Secretary and Commissioner of Police, Rivers State.

TURNING HIS BACK ON HIS PROMISES: At his assumption of office in August after the exit of Muhammad Abubakar in July, Abba promised to broaden the scope of police work beyond just arresting, investigating and prosecuting.
“The responsibility of the police in a democracy transcends these traditional roles, to expectations in ensuring a stable democracy, conducive to good governance; creating an enabling environment for economic development and providing acceptable basic service delivery for the people of our country,” he said.
While expressing his commitment to the creation of a safe and secure environment for all Nigerians by addressing the root causes of crime, preventing actions that threaten the safety and security of Nigeria, he vowed to “uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
But a few months after enunciating these ideals, observers said the IG has not been able to live up to their dictates. Abba’s critics have argued that under him, the police have gravitated more towards stifling the democratic space and truncating its institutions than was the case under any of his predecessors.
For instance, when Tambuwal dumped PDP and joined the APC, on October 27, 2014, the IG stripped the Speaker of his police details, hinging the move on Section 68(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The decision put the police boss on a collision course with lawyers, who criticized him as constituting his office as a court and interpreting the constitution as though he was a judge.
Among other alleged shortcomings of the IG that have attracted criticisms was the inability or unwillingness of the police under him to protect the sanctity of the judiciary in Ekiti State, where policemen watched as suspected Peoples Democratic Party’s political thugs supporting Governor Ayodele Fayose openly attacked High Court judges in September.
Also, the Inspector-General has been accused of allowing his subordinates to provide security to seven PDP lawmakers in Ekiti to sit and impeach the state’s Assembly Speaker. As many as 17 All Progressives Congress (APC) legislators, the majority in the house, backed the Ekiti Speaker, before he was removed.

THE IGP BEFORE HOUSE OF REPS COMMITTEE: For the first time since his appointment as the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, last week appeared before a House of Representatives Committee to explain the actions of his men who blocked the assembly entrance and tear-gassed the Speaker of the House of Reps, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and other lawmakers, on November 20.  Abba had twice shunned invitation by the committee, preferring, instead, to send representatives who were walked out of the hearing.
While narrating the genesis of the incident to the lawmakers, the police boss refused to address Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, choosing instead to refer to him as Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, a development that angered members of the committee.   He told the lawmakers that commenting on the issue would amount to subjudice, as the matter was already in court.
“What transpired on that day was unprecedented worldwide as policemen were disobeyed, beaten and many things that followed after that date.
“In the process of safeguarding the security of the National Assembly on the 20th of November, we collaborated with the National Assembly Sergeant-at-Arm, according to laid down procedures, where members were being asked to identify themselves before they could be allowed into the premises.
“And at the gate there, a tear gas exploded when ‘Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal’ was being asked to identify himself. We still don’t know the circumstances surrounding the explosion and we are investigating it.
“Considering what happened in Burkina Faso on the 30th of October, where the Palace was invaded, we had no choice than to go for reinforcement to curb the situation.
“We acted on credible information about suspected thugs who wanted to invade the Assembly, and because we didn’t want what happened in Bukina Faso to repeat itself here, we had to take stringent security measures.”
However, the explanation did not convince members of the opposition, lawyers and the civil society, who have dismissed it. They equally criticized him for using the Police Force under him to fight the political battle of President Jonathan and the ruling party.

DOING HIS BOSS’ DIRTY JOB: Police officers who have previously worked with Abba told Sunday Trust that he was not the type to give in easily to satisfying the illegitimate demands of his bosses. For instance, a female police officer who worked under him when he was a deputy commissioner of police in Kano, under Abubakar, recalled that the IGP was “meticulous and religious.”
She said the pressures attached to his job as an IG must have forced him to change. “He was very meticulous and religious and could devote all his time to solving problems of his subordinates, even against the wishes of his superiors,” she said.
She said when a certain female police officer was threatened with dismissal after she was discovered to have lied about her state of origin, it was Abba who interceded on her behalf and told his seniors that sacking her was not the answer, as she had already received police training.
“Truly, Abba is not the police officer we used to know when he was in Kano, and for that I can blame the higher authorities who want him to do their bidding. He is a very simple person. He still answers phone calls from junior police officers,” she added.
This view was supported by Comrade John Odah, a former coursemate of the IG at the University of Jos between 1979 and 1983. Odah, who was also the secretary general of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said he and the IG had both served as executive members of the Student Union at the university in 1981.
According to Comrade Odah, “Our president then was a gentleman called Musa Yelwa. The current IGP served as assistant secretary of the executive council and I served the as welfare secretary.  We belonged to the Pan-African organization in the campus with the objective of bringing about a better Nigeria and other African societies. During that era we implemented key policies which were very popular among the students.”
He maintained that the IG may not have compromised those qualities he exhibited in their undergraduate days because “the police are part of the executive arm which has the final authority to deploy the security agents, not just the police, but the army, SSS and all the paramilitary.”
“An IGP, important as he is, can take a number of steps, but I, personally, don’t think that what we have seen happen at the National Assembly is the sole decision of the IGP. One hopes that the current IGP will remain well enough in office to be able to demonstrate some of his humane principles which had been with him when we were young people in the university.
“My recollection of our interaction over the period still shows that those formative days in our lives where we took some cautious decisions and work in the interest of the masses at the campus level have not left him.”
He insisted that “Abba is a very humble person who relates with the ordinary people because he understands that all men are born equal. And, therefore, the big distinction in our society in terms of treating the big and ordinary persons differently are not what he believes in. He tried as much as possible to be accessible to everybody, both big and small people. I think Abba is also God-fearing.
“I want to say that when we were much younger, these were his attributes and as he grew up, the influence of people like the late Aminu Kano impacted deeply on him. By the time we were in the university, the Talakawa ideology, which Aminu Kano was known for, was something that resonated very well in people like Abba.”
Comrade Odah, however, added that, “When I heard that he was appointed as acting IG I felt very sorry for him because it is very difficult to be an IG and maintain your integrity in this age of insurgency, and a few months to the general elections where the political elite in both the ruling party and the opposition are not ready to play according to the rules.”

The Police Did Not Act Against The Law – Ojukwu
Commenting on the incident at the National Assembly,  the spokesperson of the police force, Emmanuel Ojukwu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, said his boss was only taking directives from the president as provided by the constitution, denying that the IG was being teleguided from the Aso Rock Villa.
“The law says the president may give directives or orders to the IG. It is there, written in the constitution, it was written by the same lawmakers who made that law and gave us a constitution. But it will be wrong for you to input that whatever the IG does is based on the directive from the president. No,” he said.
“The IG is a professional police officer. He has put in over 30 years of service. He did not start a as rank and file, he began as an officer, and we know that we don’t obey unlawful orders; we know what to do in season and out of season; every officer knows what to do in season and out of season, and whatever you do and fail to do, you are responsible for your action.
“So, whatever the IG does, he is responsible for his actions and he acted in the best interest of the job and in the best interest of the nation. And what he has done is in line with the law, and it will be wrong for anybody to say that whatever the IG does it is the president that told him so. The president took time to select an IG who is knowledgeable, an IG who is capable, an IG who is competent, and Suleiman Abba represents all these qualities which I have told you now. So he acted in line with the law,” Ojukwu said..
He added that all the police had intended to do by stepping up security at the National Assembly on the day the lawmakers were reconvening was to avert a breakdown of order, following threatening comments by APC leaders.
“Recently, a political party held a mini convention in Abuja. I want to inform you that the Nigeria police were not informed about that meeting, but having learnt of that meeting we sent our men to cover them. When they finished that meeting they led a procession, in that procession we saw Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and some other leaders, and they came with three ambulances – meaning they were anticipating trouble – and blocked the Force Headquarters gate for two hours. It was like holding the police hostage, but we can never be held hostage because if you hold the police hostage, law and order is held hostage. They blocked our gate for two hours provoking us, but we have a training to be tactful, to be patience.
“The National Assembly was reconvening to consider a request from the president which is dear to everybody’s heart. So we knew they were reconvening, and the instruction was to screen people entering, many members were screened, they complied. It is also in line with the National Assembly rule which says that members who are entering the National Assembly should be screened. In their own guidelines, the screening should be done by the Sergeant-at-Arms and the police.
“What happened was that because of that intelligence report we increased the police presence and the screening went on. Many members were screened, including the Senate President. Many members of the House Representatives were screened and they went in, but the time we began to have issues was when Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal arrived with a large crowd. We did not know who was who. But before he arrived, his vehicle, the driver and people around him assaulted a policeman in uniform who stopped them for a check. They hit a policeman with a vehicle. Policemen were attacked; six policemen were wounded, including the ADC to the Senate President, whose leg was broken. I thank God our men acted with a lot of wisdom, tact and restraint,” he explained.

Abba Is Treading A Familiar Path – Tsav
For Abubakar Tsav, a retired Commissioner of Police and social critic, the path being trodden by the current Inspector-General is not strange to his predecessors. According to Tsav, Abba is following the footsteps of past IGPs.
Describing the past IGPs as “zombies”, Tsav said: “With the exception of the late Adamu Sulaiman who refused to take political orders from politicians and was sacked while on official assignment at the Ikeja International Airport, all other IGPs were zombies.”
Describing the refusal by Abba to recognize Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives as unfortunate, Tsav said: “Alhaji Suleiman Abba that I knew was deeply religious and transparently honest. As IGP, he is faced with fundamental problems of loyalty to his employers/appointee. He has no discretion when it comes to question of loyalty to his appointee. He has no choice but to abide by the policies and pronouncements of government. If he doesn’t, he would lose his job.  Some people prefer the life of this world than the hereafter. Accordingly he would prefer to be in service as a zombie than do the right thing and get kicked out.”
“I am deeply in sympathy with IGP Abba, because a Police constable has more discretion than him under the current circumstances. Whatever we do in our services to fellow human beings in our position of trust, we should remember that we shall account for it in this world or the hereafter. We are truly in trouble in Nigeria!”
Apart from the knocks the IGP has received from many legal experts, a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, strongly condemned the police chief’s activities, saying his acts are a threat to the current experiment in democracy.
Alhaji Atiku disclosed this to journalists at the weekend after addressing delegates of the APC from Cross River State at the Transcorp Metropolitan Hotel, in Calabar. He said: “The IGP is a qualified lawyer who ought to have known that it is not his responsibility to recognise the Speaker. What he should provide is security for government institutions, but he is now taking side with the ruling government and that is most unfortunate and it portends a lot of danger for our democracy and I will address the issue formally on Saturday night.”