The Senate has ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris to reinstate the already redeployed Aide de Camp (ADC) to the Governor of Anambra state, Chief Willie Obiano within twenty four hours. The order followed a Point of Order raised on the floor of the Senate by the Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha during plenary on Wednesday at the National Assembly.
Sen. Bwacha said the withdrawal of the ADC was unjust and may put the safety of the Governor at risk. “As a senator, I know that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. If we don’t arrest the matter the President may be made hostage unknown to him. If we allow such cabal to grow and are not tamed, the Federal Government may be brought down to its knees.”
He called on the Senate not to allow a repeat of the development in any state of the Federation stressing that it could lead to institutionalization of impunity. “What happened in Anambra should not happen anywhere again. Candidates should be allowed level playing ground but nobody should do a thing as crude and shrewd as what happened in Anambra. This was wrong. I will make attempt to try and reach the President that some of his aides are been over zealous in discharging their constitutional duties; this is not good and it is uncalled for.”
Speaking in support of Sen. Bwacha, Sen. Biodun Olujimi said “the issue is very important to Nigerians and democracy. It is a nascent democracy and there is a need for us to nurture it, to ensure that we don’t truncate it easily. “The action of the IGP in taking over the aides of a sitting governor means that in 2019, even the Senate President will lose all his aides. Every governor regardless of his political party is entitled to security and as chief security officers of their states they are entitled to security."
“It is unimaginable that the IGP will say because he wants to provide level playing field because there is an election, he will withdraw the ADC of a governor so that he goes without his retinue of aides. That is wrong”. Recall that on Tuesday, the IGP ordered the withdrawal of the ADC attached to Governor Obiano. He explained that the move was to allow for transparency during the conduct of the forthcoming Anambra state Governorship election billed to take place on Saturday.
In a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, the IGP said;
"The development was based on the previous experience the police recorded whereby the military caught an ADC to a governor escorting a vehicle loaded with arms on Election Day. We do not mean anything bad to Anambra governor on this action; his ADC will be returned to him early Sunday morning after the governorship election on Saturday November 18. We have equally withdrawn all the policemen attached to political appointees, Local Government Chairmen and others in Anambra till after the election,” he added.
