President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of DIG Hashimu Argungu (Rtd) as the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) confirming the imminent sack of Solomon Arase.
Also approved were the appointments of Chief Onyemuche Nnamani as Secretary and DIG Taiwo Lakanu (Rtd) as a member of the Commission. While both pending confirmation by the Senate other members of the Police Service Commission will be appointed in due course.
However, Mr. Mohammed Sheidu’s appointment as the executive Secretary of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) takes immediate effect.
Although, a statement by the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale announcing the appointments did not disclose the reason for Arase’s removal from office.
However, it maybe noted that the sack comes after an International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) report published in February spotlighting Arase’s alleged involvement in the illegal sale of lands through a contracting firm, Corpren International Limited, under the guise of developing the police residential estate.
The story was backed by evidence of affidavits and documents of ongoing litigation over the lands located in different parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The ICIR report also revealed that he enabled Corpran International Limited to obtain nearly N1 billion from the Police Mortgage Bank without collateral. It also accused Andy Chime, the owner of Corpran International Limited, of being used to dupe the NPF in the illegal deal.
Arase and Corpran International Limited were also spotlighted to have instituted lawsuits against the newspaper and the reporter of the story. Writing a petition to the Nigerian Police Force Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC), accusing the journalists of cyberstalking and defamation of character – leading to the harassment of the journalists on the story by the police.
