Outgoing Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, received the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mu’azu Zubairu, in the state on Monday, with the APC politician sharing a photo of their meeting on his verified Twitter handle and going on to reveal that the meeting took place at the Lagos House, Ikeja. Ambode added that the state expects a lot from the new Commissioner of Police. He tweeted, “We received the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mu’azu Zubairu at Lagos House, Ikeja. A lot is expected of the new Commissioner of Police and we will provide him with all the necessary support to maintain the peace in our State.”
This comes after the Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the removal of Edgal Imohimi, as the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, following the recommendation of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu. Mu’azu Zubairu will now replace him as the new Police Commissioner in the state. Kayode Egbetokun, who was recently appointed as a Commissioner in Lagos, has also been redeployed to Kwara State.
We received the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mu’azu Zubairu at Lagos House, Ikeja. A lot is expected of the new Commissioner of Police and we will provide him with all the necessary support to maintain the peace in our State. pic.twitter.com/KjxYhbwA20
— Akinwunmi Ambode (@AkinwunmiAmbode) February 11, 2019
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The redeployment of the CPs was disclosed in a statement issued by the Head, Press and Public Relations of the Police Service Commission, Ikechukwu Ani. According to the statement, new appointments and redeployment were done across all 36 states of the country and the FCT. The Commissioners are expected to proceed immediately to their new Commands, ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Meanwhile, the redeployment did not go down well with the Peoples Democratic Party. The PDP described it as a ploy to use the police to rig the elections in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Despite this opposition, Ani said the affected Commissioners of Police should resume at their new commands before the February 16 elections. The FCT CP, Bala Ciroma, and his Ogun State counterpart, Ahmed Iliyasu, however, retained their positions.
At the time, the police remained silent on where Imohimi would be deployed to but sources at the police headquarters said he might be posted to Abuja. Egbetokun was the Chief Security Officer to the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, when he was the Lagos State governor. Also, the Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, charged the CPs to quickly settle at their new posts and ensure that the elections at their various commands were peaceful, free, fair and transparent.
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