President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the extension of service of his Chief Personal Security Officer (CPSO), Abdulkarim Dauda, by three years.
Dauda, who was promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police, last year, is nephew to President Buhari.
By the presidential approval, CP Dauda, who was due to retire from service on January 1, 2020, will now leave the force on May 13, 2023.
The Force Secretary, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, in a signal conveying Dauda’s tenure extension directed the Force’s Department of Information Technology to amend their records to reflect the development.
The message with Reference Number 23853/FS/FHQ/ABJ/46 seen, in Abuja, on Wednesday read, “The President, Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chairman, Police Council, has graciously approved the extension of service of CP Abdulkarim Dauda to May 13, 2023, when he would have attained 60 years of age. Commissioner, Information Technology, amend your records please.”
Prior to his posting to the State House as CPSO to President Buhari, CP Dauda served in different police commands and formations, including the Sokoto State Command, Force Criminal Department, Lagos, Katsina State Command, Lagos State Command, Edo State Command, Police College, Kaduna, and Kano State Command.
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The CPSO office was created by former President Goodluck Jonathan to pave the way for his Aide-de-Camp, Moses Jitoboh, to be part of his personal security structure.
But a few months after President Buhari’s inauguration, CP Dauda was redeployed to serve as his CPSO.
It was learnt that CP Dauda subsequently removed ‘Daura’ from his name to allegedly prevent the public from tracing his family connection to the President following criticisms over President Buhari’s appointing his family and kinsmen to government offices.
Our correspondent learnt that the decision to extend Dauda’s stay in the Force had been generating tension in the Police Service Commission as senior officials regard President Buhari’s action as a usurpation of the PSC’s powers and a violation of the 1999 Constitution.
A PSC official claimed the CPSO was being groomed to succeed the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in 2021.
He stated, “The plan is to promote the CPSO to the rank of AIG and then make him the IG in 2021 when Adamu retires from service.
“We believe the President was misled into extending Dauda’s tenure because he had no power to do so.”
Born in 1963, Dauda was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as a Cadet Officer on January 1, 1985 and would clock the mandatory 35 years in service in January 2020. (Punch)
