The Former Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has revealed why he was sacked by then President Goodluck Jonathan.
Abba claimed that his sudden removal from office in 2015 was as a result of his refusal to rig elections in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Osun State.
Recalling the circumstances that led to his untimely retirement from service, Abba told Daily Trust that, “Believe me, I’ve always counted myself lucky. I think because of the little background I gave you about the strength of discipline in me, both personal and professional, I received my sack as a normal development. I was not shocked for a reason that I knew it would happen”.
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“Right from the time I began work as Inspector General of Police, I knew that I may not reach the date of my retirement, which would have been 2019, by which time I would have been 35 years in service and 60 years of age. I’m saying this because the very first week I took over, we had the elections in Ekiti, that was August 2014. Preparations had been made for the election by my predecessor and I think it was the same team that also did the Osun election, it was the same AIG.
“One of the leading stalwarts in the PDP then mentioned to me: ‘IG (you know I was acting then) deliver Osun to us and we’ll confirm you quickly.’ I was shocked! That was when I knew that I may not last long in the office. Instantly, I said to myself, ‘How could I deliver when I’m not an electorate?’ The voters are the ones to deliver, my own was to protect the entire process.
“In fact I said to myself that what happened to one of my predecessors (may his soul rest in peace), Adamu Suleiman, was going to happen to me, maybe I would never be confirmed. He was Inspector General of Police and till he left office he was not confirmed.
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“So that’s my approach; I accept things the way they come. I said to myself that I was going to leave that office with out confirmation; but then, I went to Osun and did what I was supposed to do. Of course, having made up my mind that I wasn’t going to take the dictates of someone on what I had been doing for many years, I went to Osun, addressed the cops who were very cheerful because they were seeing their IGP for the first time. I advised them to go and do what the law protect the electorate, all other stakeholders, INEC officials, observers, and of course, any other person that had the right to be around the polling areas, collation areas.”
