The Police Service Commission (PSC), has approved the promotion of 238 senior officers across various ranks in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), including 12 Commissioners of Police who have now been elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs).
The promotions, which cut across general duty and specialist cadres, also saw 16 Deputy Commissioners of Police promoted to substantive Commissioners, and 27 Assistant Commissioners elevated to Deputy Commissioners.
However, one Assistant Commissioner was absent from the promotion exercise and was not considered.
In a statement released by the Commission, 145 Chief Superintendents of Police (CSPs) were promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs).
These include officers from both general duty and specialist units such as Airwing, Medical, Pharmacy, Laboratory Sciences, Physiotherapy, Nursing, Priesthood, and Aircraft Engineering.
Also promoted were 29 Superintendents of Police, all specialists in Info-Tech, Works, and Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), who advanced to Chief Superintendents of Police.
An additional 38 Deputy Superintendents (specialists) were elevated to the rank of Superintendent.
Among those promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police is Johnson Oluwole Adenola, the current Commissioner of Police in Oyo State and a former Principal Staff Officer to the Inspector General of Police. Others include Ako Benedict Gabriel (CP Anti-Fraud), Ahmadu Tijani Abdullahi (CP Jigawa State), Emmanuel Adegbola Aina (Acting AIG Intelligence), and Ronke Nurat Okunade of the Special Fraud Unit, FCID Annex, Lagos.
The 16 Deputy Commissioners now promoted to CP include Uduak Otu Ita, Sheikh Mohammed Danko, Charles Ezekwesiri Dike, Nnana Oji Ama (DC Intelligence, FCID), and Umar Ahmed Chuso, among others.
Prominent among the 27 newly promoted Deputy Commissioners are Shehu Idris, David Adio Alalada (Acting DCP Admin, Enugu State), Olufemi Akinwale Akinola, Abimbola Shafkat Abdulraheem, and Adedeji Adeniyi.
Notable among the 145 Chief Superintendents promoted to ACP are Zubairu Maina, Olufikayo Abimbola Fawole, Lateef Jaiyeola (CSP Admin, Force Education), and Agbemoroti Clement Oloruntoba, former DPO in Osun State. Others include Sani El-Mustapha (CRU, Force Headquarters), Chinedum Aniagbaso (ICT, Force Headquarters), and officers from the Airwing Unit.
The promotions followed a rigorous process of examinations and interviews, coordinated by retired DIG Taiwo Lakanu, Chairman of the Commission’s Standing Committee on Police Matters.
He later presented the report to the Commission in plenary for final approval.
Retired DIG Argungu, while commenting on the process, emphasised the Commission’s commitment to maintaining global best practices.
He declared that promotion exams have come to stay, urging officers to either rise to the challenge or risk being shown the door.
The PSC Chairman praised the successful candidates and tasked them with upholding professionalism and commitment in their new roles adding, “The Police Force of the 21st century must be capable, competent, and dedicated to ridding Nigeria of criminality.”
The Commission reaffirmed its resolve to build a highly motivated and professional police force to meet the demands of modern policing.
