I Nominated Abba Kyari For Special Promotion – Ex-IGP Okiro

A former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, has disclosed that he nominated the former leader of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari, for double promotion.

The former police boss and ex-Chairman, Police Service Commission (PSC) made this known in an interview with Vanguard on Wednesday.

Naija News reports that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had on Monday indicted the former IRT leader in the trafficking of cocaine, which subsequently led to his arrest by the police.

In a statement on Monday evening, Police Deputy PRO, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, had ordered the immediate transfer of Abba Kyari and four others to the NDLEA.

According to Okiro, the unfolding drama concerning Kyari is highly disappointing, stressing that the embattled police officer was diligent during his time as the IRT leader.

The former police chief added that Kyari’s purported dedication to work and outstanding performance earned him double promotion when he was the chairman of the police commission.

Okiro, however, stated that the commission was unable to look at Kyari’s character, saying that they only looked at his performance on the job.

He said: “I feel highly disappointed. He was doing very well as an officer and this earned him double promotion when I was the Chairman of Police Service Commission. However, we were unable to look at his character. We were only looking at his performance on the job.

“I nominated him for a special promotion at the Police Service Commission, and that has nothing to do with character, and when we are appointing, we are not looking at character, we are looking at performance at the job, but what is unfolding now is actually disgraceful and shameful.

When asked about what went wrong with the embattled cop, Okiro said: “I can’t say what went wrong, it is an individual trait, maybe he could not dissociate himself from his original way of behaviour, and went ahead to do what he was not supposed to do. A law enforcer cannot offend the law when it is his job to defend the law.”