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\nTinubu said he would rather have police officers deployed for essential security work than assigned as personal escorts to government officials.<\/p>\n
By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
President Bola Tinubu has directed the withdrawal of police officers attached to ministers and other top government officials, saying the security personnel were needed for core policing duties across the country.<\/p>\n
The President gave the directive on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.<\/p>\n
\nTinubu said he would rather have police officers deployed for essential security work than assigned as personal escorts to government officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would rather offer police officers from the VIP Protection or Very Very Important Persons Unit to perform real policing duties,\u201d the President stated. \u201cI honestly believe in what I have said and I call on the Inspector-General of Police, and I hope the Minister for Police Affairs is here, to take note.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that the decision was driven by the need to strengthen national security and ensure that available law enforcement personnel were properly utilized.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have any problem related to the nature of your assignment, please contact the IGP and get my clearance,\u201d Tinubu said. \u201cThe Minister for Interior, along with the IGP and the Civil Defence structure, should replace those police officers who are on special security duties so that we don\u2019t leave people exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The President also directed the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to provide additional intelligence and form a committee to review the current security structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first challenge is here and there, kidnapping and terrorism. We need all the forces that we can deploy,\u201d he said. \u201cI know some of our people are exposed, and we must make exceptional provisions for them. The Civil Defence officers are equally armed, and I want the NSA to take it very seriously, even to the point of arming our forest guards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinubu also charged the National Economic Committee (NEC) and the Vice President to accelerate the implementation of the livestock reform initiative as part of efforts to address recurring conflicts between farmers and herders.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially on livestock reform, I think the Vice President should get NEC to identify which villages or grazing reserves can be salvaged or rehabilitated into ranches,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must eliminate the possibility of conflict and turn livestock reform into an economically viable development.\u201d<\/p>\n
He emphasised that the initiative should be handled within the constitutional framework that recognizes land ownership by states.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhichever land they can salvage, convert it to livestock villages or other viable ventures,\u201d Tinubu added. \u201cLet us stop these conflict areas and turn them into economic opportunities and prosperity.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Senate on Wednesday witnessed rowdy session as Senators kicked against implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s directive for withdrawal of Police Orderlies from Very Important Personalities ( VIPs) , angered Senators making them to seek for exemption and warning not to be used as scapegoats .<\/p>\n
Recall that as part of trouble shooting measures against the problem of insecurity in the country , President Tinubu penultimate week ,ordered the Inspector – General of Police , Kayode Egbetokun , to withdraw about 11,000 Police personnel attached to various categories of VIPs across the country .<\/p>\n
But complaints and concerns were expressed about the implementation in Senate during plenary on Wednesday on the strength of motion raised by Senator Abdul Ningi ( Bauchi Central) .<\/p>\n
Senator Ningi who moved the motion through point of order , informed the Senate that the only Police Orderly he has , was withdrawn in the early hours of Wednesday while some other VIPs in the country are still enjoying the privilege .<\/p>\n
He demanded that it should be done across board in the spirit of fairness and equity.<\/p>\n
He said: ” It should be done across the board. Let’s see what happens from the office of the President, to the Vice President, to the Senate President, to the Speaker of the House, to the Ministers. Mr. President, I’m coming after they have withdrawn my only orderly.<\/p>\n
“I saw two convoys of ministers and they were carrying lots of security personnel. Mr. President, I have also seen business concerns, Chinese and other business concerns, yesterday, with their compliments of orderlies. <\/p>\n
“Mr. President, I have also seen daughters and sons of political office holders having orderlies and having security covers.<\/p>\n
“Mr. President, I have seen singers having orderlies and complimentary protection. I cannot ever imagine that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has been here for a very long time, will have his only one orderly, withdrawn .<\/p>\n
” I can take care of myself but let it be done across the board. Let me not see governors, ministers, and business tycoons , being escorted by security personnel.<\/p>\n
” This matter should be addressed with all seriousness it deserved. I therefore , called on the President of the Senate , to ask the Chairman of Committee on Police Affairs to investigate why the directive is seemingly being implemented selectively . The National Assembly should not be used as a scape goat” , he said .<\/p>\n
In his brief remarks , the Deputy President of the Senate , Barau JibrIn who presided over the session , said issue raised by Ningi was extensively deliberated upon by the leadership of the Senate on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
He specifically informed the Senator and other affected Senators that efforts are being made to convince the presidency to exempt members of the National Assembly from orderly withdrawal implementation. <\/p>\n
“I want to assure you that the issue raised to protect you is taken seriously, and that at the leadership side yesterday, we agreed that the course of action should be undertaken in order to restore your police order to you, because it’s in line with international practice. <\/p>\n
” I’m sure we have a listening President. He will listen to us, and by the grace of God, he will save us from that order, which was given in good faith” , he said .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke President Bola Tinubu has directed the withdrawal of police officers attached to ministers and other top government officials, saying the security personnel were needed for core policing duties across the country. The President gave the directive on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Tinubu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1291,216,2889,4790],"class_list":["post-9297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-enforcement","tag-personnel","tag-properly","tag-utilized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9298,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9297\/revisions\/9298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}