Counsel to the late Deputy Inspector General of Police, Moses Ambakina Jitoboh, Silas Onu, has said the late officer did not reach the Inspector General status because of former President Muhammadu Buhari and former Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Solomon Arase.
Henzodaily reported that the Late Jitoboh sued the PSC for his compulsory retirement. While he, unfortunately, died on Thursday, 27 December 2024; the Court, on Monday, ruled in his favour and granted his prayers.
“Today (Monday), DIG Moses A. Jitoboh wins his case against the Police Service Commission. Reinstated with effect from the date of his purported compulsory retirement and awarded 50m in general damages. Having passed on to glory, it is now official that he died in active duty to his fatherland,” Onu wrote on his X handle.
Some reports on the court victory, however, attributed the late officer’s sack to President Bola Tinubu and the current IGP of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. The reports wrongly claimed Jitoboh was sacked to pave the way for Egbetokun.
In a statement, on Tuesday, Onu clarified that the sack of the former aide-de-camp (ADC) to former President Goodluck Jonathan had nothing to do with Tinubu and Egbetokun.
According to him, the Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi and IGP Egbetokun ensured justice was done in the case.
“I can state clearly here now that President Bola Tinubu and the IGP of Police had no hands in his sad compulsory retirement.
“It was 100% the handiwork of former IGP Solomon Arase as the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) which exercises control over all Police Officers, with the exception of the Inspector General of Police.
“The reason for his action was personal and very mundane and he was sacked by President Bola Tinubu upon our complaint through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
“As a matter of fact, the IGP ensured that the Police played no role whatsoever in the trial as they refused to cooperate with the PSC to fabricate lies against Moses,” he said.
Jitobonh’s counsel further disclosed that the current PSC Chairman, Hashimu Argungu, was against his client’s sack.
Onu explained that the President was unable to act on the issue because it was already in court.
“The new Chairman of the PSC, from my discussions with Moses, also was against the action taken by Arase and like the IGP, hoped to receive Moses back in the Force after the judgment. They both were talking with him before he passed. In fact, he stated that the IGP had a special place for him when he returns to the Police.
“The President could not act as we were already in Court, so the AGF said we should wait for the outcome and the government will respect whatever decision reached.
“So, it is not correct to mischaracterize their entire unfortunate events by saying it was done to favour the IGP. Recall that other DIGs retired along with Moses did not challenge the act because they all had less than 5 months to leave the Force, while Moses had 7 years then.
“If any President was unkind to Moses, it was Muhammadu Buhari who signed the Police Act, 2020 into law and flouted its provisions twice, simply to deny Moses his privileged lawful promotion to the office of IGP,” he added.