Mrs. Buhari’s reaction came as Force headquarters in Abuja also dismissed allegations by the senator that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim Idris, purchased two Prado SUVs for the personal use of the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, based on her request and also described as falsehood, claims by Misau that the IGP doctored his retirement age.
It argued that the vehicles, which were Toyota Sienna Bus and Toyota Hiace and not Prado SUVs as claimed by Senator Misau, were given to Police Escort personnel of the First Lady, based on the request of her Aide-de-Camp, ADC.
But Senator Misau was unrelenting, yesterday, saying the IGP was the mastermind of leakage of the document that exposed Mrs. Buhari.
However, reacting yesterday in a statement signed by her Director of Information, Suleiman Haruna, Mrs Buhari said she was still using the vehicles allocated to her during the campaigns in 2015.
The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to the news being widely circulated, and attributed to a member of the Senate that two SUVs from the Inspector General of Police were given to wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, personally.
“The wife of the President wants to make it clear that since the assumption of office of her husband as President of Nigeria, she did not receive these mentioned vehicles.
“Furthermore, the vehicles she is still using belong to the family and were the ones used during the campaign for 2015 elections, including the one for her entourage.”
Mrs. Buhari had earlier in her twitter handle denied receiving such vehicles, saying “I am still using my personal cars.’’
Force Headquarters in a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood, described Senator Misau’s allegation as baseless and misguided.
It read: “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to publications in some newspapers of October 26, 2017, captioned “Misau Accuses IGP of Buying 2 Jeeps (SUVs) for Buhari’s Wife” and “IGP Idris Manipulated His Retirement Age, Says Misau” credited to Senator Isa Hamma Misau.
“The two reports were studied and found out to be an outright falsehood, misleading, unfounded, a deliberate attempt to misinform the public and drag the name of wife of the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari and that of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris into a controversy.
“It is pertinent to state that at no time did the wife of the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Buhari requested directly or indirectly for vehicles for her use from the Inspector General of Police and no vehicle whether Jeep or SUV has ever been given for her personal use.
“To set the record straight and disabuse the minds of the public, especially those who must have read the story, the Inspector General of Police is empowered by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and the Police Act and Regulations, precisely Section 215 (1) (a & b) and (2).
“The Nigeria Police Force shall be under the command of the Inspector General Police and the Deployment and Control of the entire Operations of the Force, including allocation of Police vehicles for operational use throughout the country, shall be under the purview of the IGP.
“It is within the powers of the Inspector General of Police as stated above that when on the 17th January, 2017, SP Sani M Baba-Inna, the ADC to ‘wife of the President requested for two vehicles for police personnel in the convoy of wife of the President for convoy movement and security purposes, a Toyota Sienna Bus with Reg. No. NPF 2406D and a Toyota Hiace Bus with Reg. No. NPF 3363D, were approved by the Inspector General of Police to the ADC and not to the person of wife of the President or for her personal use as alleged by Misau.
“The Nigeria Police Force categorically wishes to state that all the allegations made by Misau against the Inspector General of Police and wife of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria of buying two Jeeps for her as reported in some media are baseless, untrue and done in bad faith to misinform and mislead the public.
“Members of the public are, hereby, strongly enjoined to discountenance and disregard the report in its entirety.
“On IGP’s retirement age, Misau’s allegations were with ill-motive. For avoidance of doubt, the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Force Secretary Office wrote the chairman, Police Service Commission on the 18th of January, 2017, drawing the attention of the commission to the observation on the current staff list of Senior Police Officers, whereby the date of birth of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, was incorrectly stated as 3/01/1959 instead of the actual date of 15/01/1959.
“All documents and records of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, has 15/01/1959 as his date of birth except the staff list of Senior Police Officers and this is the reason the approval of the chairman, Police Service Commission for correction of the error, was sought in this regard.
“The difference of dates between 3/01/1959 and 15/01/1959 is just 12 days, which is very insignificant in 35 years that a public servant can be in service.
“Furthermore, the public will note that Isa Hamman Misau deliberately refused to prove the allegations he previously levelled against the Inspector General of Police on the floor of the Senate for which he was invited by the Senate Adhoc Committee but instead brought up other falsehoods to distract the committee and members of the public.
“The Nigeria Police Force is assuring the media of its support and continued cooperation in ensuring a crime free society and credible reportage.
“The print media are implored not to allow the pages of their esteemed newspapers to be used to champion campaign of calumny capable of causing disaffections between the Force and the public or that can cast aspersions on the hard earned integrity of the leadership of the Force.
“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, will not be distracted or deterred by mischievous and misguided individual(s) from carrying out his statutory responsibilities for the benefit of the entire Police Personnel and all Nigerians that we serve.”
IGP leaked documents against Aisha Buhari — Misau
Meanwhile, Senator Isa Hamma Misau, Bauchi Central, said yesterday that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, was the mastermind of the leaked documents which exposed the President’s wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, and not him.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Senator Misau said his comment on approval of two jeeps (SUVs) by the IGP for the President’s wife was in reference to court documents filed in the charge against him by the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation.
“The said documents, which form part of the proof of evidence to the charge, are correspondences between the Inspector General of Police and the following: the President and C-in-C of the Federation; The Chief of Staff to the President; the Director, National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies; the ADC to the wife of the President; and the Chief Personal Security Officer to the President.”
He, however, accused the IGP of blackmailing the President’s wife and other high ranking personalities by deliberately and unethically exposing their correspondences.
Misau’s statement read: “It was, indeed, a shock to me, as I’m sure it is to other Nigerians to see such private and confidential documents with all the minutes of the President and other top government officials carelessly displayed in the public by the Inspector General of Police in manifest breach of official secrecy.
“The motive for displaying these documents is no doubt suspicious, given that they have little or no bearing on the matter of inappropriate practices within the Police.
“My submission before the Senate Ad hoc Committee was simply to call the attention of members as well as the general public to how the IGP is unethically dropping names through filing of secret documents so as to rope these top ranking innocent personalities into the case.
“The IGP is the one who submitted the official documents mentioning the names of respected personalities, not me. I believe I need to make this clarification.”
A copy of the document filed in court by the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Federation, which was made available to journalists, showed that the request for a Sienna vehicle and a Toyota Hiace Bus for the First Lady was, indeed, addressed to Ibrahim Idris and signed by the ADC to the President’s wife, SP Sani Baba-Inna.
The request, which was contained in letter dated January 17, 2017, was officially approved the following day by the IGP in a handwritten minute.
END
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