UPDATED: Osinbajo Decorates New IGP Usman Baba

The newly appointed acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, has been decorated on Wednesday.

Baba was decorated by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The acting IGP was appointed on Tuesday by President Muhammadu Buhari to take over from Muhammed Adamu who was yet to complete his extended tenure scheduled to end by May.

Buhari had extended Adamu’s tenure for three months after he attained the statutory 35 years of retirement on February 1, 2021.

THE WHISTLER reported that Adamu was replaced while in Imo assessing the level of damage done to the state’s police command and correctional center that came under attack by hoodlums.

The new IGP, until his appointment, was the DIG in charge of Criminal Investigation Department of the Force Headquarters.

He is an alumnus of Bayero University, Kano, and the University of Maiduguri, UNIMAID, and he joined the force as Assistant Superintendent of Police in March 1988.

The acting IGP, who was promoted to the rank of DIG in November 2020 from his previous rank as Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) and a BA (ED) in Political Science.

Born in 1963 in Yobe State, Baba joined the Nigerian Police Force in March 1988— connoting that the new IGP will only spend two years in office based on provisions of the amended Police Act.

The Police Act, Section 18 (8) states: “Every Police officer shall on recruitment, or appointment, serve the Nigeria Police Force for a period of 35 years or until he attains the age of 60 years whichever is earlier”.

The new IGP has currently served 33 years in the force and is 58 years of age.

Therefore by 2023, Baba should be 35 years in service and 60 years in 2023, hence would due for retirement in the election year.