Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari Thursday explained why he decided to retain outgoing Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase when he assumed office on May 29, 2015. The President who spoke at the public presentation of a publication “Cascade of Change: A Decade Of Liberal Thoughts” authored by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, said Arase’s dossier and his intellectual capacity in the field of operations was enough to convince him to allow the former IGP to finish his tenure and retire gracefully from the Police Force.
Buhari who was represented by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Femi Adesina quoted Arase as saying that it was very strange for him to have been invited for a farewell dinner in his honour at the Abuja State House on Monday, June 20. According to him, the recent practice has been to be sacked on the pages of Newspapers.
But quoting President Buhari on why he retained Arase till the end of his tenure, Adesina said: “When it was the turn of the President to speak, he explained why he kept Arase as IGP. “He said, he saw the quality of his mind and he saw the quality of things, he had written. You know Arase has many publications to his credit and he also saw his capacity as an operation person and he decided to keep him till his tenure expired”.
Adesina said the President appreciates sound mind and intellect, adding that Buhari said Arase expressed fears that he expected that he would be sacked before the end of his tenure.
