The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Mohammed Adamu has taken over as the new Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The former IGP, Ibrahim Idris took his successor, Adamu to President Muhammadu Buhari who decorated him in his new rank at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Adamu, who hails from Nassarawa State, thanked President Buhari for finding him worthy of the position and promised to be professional in the discharge of his duties.
Briefing State House correspondents after the closed doors meeting with the President, Adamu, promised that he will be professional, especially handling the February general elections.
He said “I want to thank Mr. President for considering me worthy to be the next Inspector General of Police. We know that there are security challenges that we need to tackle in the country. Issues of kidnapping, abduction and other security challenges.
“From the strategies put in place by the former IGP, we will restrategize and make sure that we tackle these challenges squarely.”
On what Nigerians should expect during the elections, he said “On the elections, you have heard from the former IGP, adequate arrangement has been made to make sure that free and fair and credible elections take place in Nigeria.
“We are going to build upon the strategies put in place to make sure that we have hitch-free elections in the country.
Asked if he was allaying the fears of the opposition that he will not be partisan, he said “Well, we are professionals. We are going to stick by the rules, we are going to do the right thing. We will not go outside the ethics of our job to do things that are untoward, everybody will be given level playing ground to play his or her politics.
On his part, Idris said “I want to inform Nigerians that today I am 60 years and I think I have reached the pinnacle of my career. So I am going to handover to my successor, the incoming inspector General of Police.
“He is an officer I know very well. We knew each other in the past, we have worked together and I wish him success.”
Asked his advise to his successor, he said “The advise I will give is that just like in our time, he should try to go round the country and adopt measures to ensure that the Nigerian Police Force give maximum protection to lives and property.”
On the major challenges Nigerian police are facing currently, he said “I think so far under this government I think the Nigerian police force has been making a lot of effort to secure Nigerians. Obviously challenges in the area of recruitment, of course you aware that the government has just given us approval to recruit more people yearly, by the grace of God by this year the number of police officers is going to increase considerably.”
Asked how prepared the police is for the elections, he said “Obviously we are adequately prepared for the elections. We have carried out a lot of elections in this country and I think you will agree with me that the Nigeria police force tried in these elections.
“I am assuring Nigerians that the Nigeria police force are going to do their best in this coming elections.” he stated