By Augustine Ehikioya
Shedding light on the true patriotism and genuine interest for Nigeria’s progress by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, said he was given the appointment for the top Police job without the Ex-President knowing him personally.
According to Alkali, the former President, who died on the 13th of July, 2025 in the United Kingdom, later told him he was given the top job based on merit and recommendation by those who handled the assessment.
Speaking with Security Watch Africa (SWA) crew in Abuja, he recalled how the freehand given to him since assumption of duty on 21st April, 2021, enabled the Nigeria Police Force to record many achievements under his tenure.
From the handling of the Anambra Governorship election to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential primaries elections in Abuja in 2023, Baba said Buhari never had any selfish interest as a detribalized Nigerian and didn’t intervene in any way in the normal course of events.
Among the achievements recorded under him, he said, included a a better-equipped Force, improved staff welfare comprising building more Police barracks, improved salaries and wages, and prompt pension payments.
Speaking on late Buhari, IGP Baba said, “Like I said earlier, it is a profound loss to the nation and to the world at large. So, I was appointed Inspector General of Police on April 21, 2021, while the President was even outside the country on a holiday.
“I was sworn in by the former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and resumed duty at the headquarters as Inspector General of Police.
“I think it was after about two weeks that the President returned back to the country, and I was one of those who received him at the airport. This is the first time we met with a profound recognition that this is somebody I remember I had met him once as a Commissioner of Police.
“There were so many people, so I just saluted him, and because it was the Covid-19 period, there was no shaking of hands.”
On how he was appointed for the position, he said the former President told him later that he received recommendations from those whom he gave the responsibility to do the assessment.
Baba quoted the former President saying “We have chosen you to come and work with us based on merit and seniority, and we hope you will perform to the best of your knowledge and ability to make a change in the security sector.”
He said Buhari mentioned that the Force before his appointment has positively been battling with a lot of crime and criminalities ranging from IPOB, ESN, Boko Haram, Kidnapping, and other issues.
At the one-on-one meeting with the President, he said Buhari directed him to go and work and get a team that will support him, with a promise to assist him based on the needs before the NPF and other things that would be needed.
Just about the time he was going out from the President’s office, IGP Baba, recalled that Buhari told him what steps to take in case of any activities of cabals in the Presidency.
The former IGP said, “And when I was about going out, he said, ‘if there is anything coming from me, indirectly, confirm from me.”
He said that, that Buhari’s closing remark gave him a lot of courage and a sense of responsibility.
“I know I have been given a responsibility with both authority and power. So I mean that anybody can use the name of the President and say he’s from the President, and that gave me a lot of support.” he stated.
Because of the offices he occupied before his appointment as IGP, Baba said, he had known the challenges facing NPF and had his own way of tackling the challenges.
Stressing that the challenges in the Force are the same, he said what’s different are the ways of solving them.
He said, “Those problems that might differ when you are not in the mantle of leadership, some of the decisions might not be in your interests. When I assumed the leadership, I quickly went to have a planned programme of action that guided me throughout my tenure.
“I have ways and means of looking into issues, either administratively, welfare issue or fighting crime and so forth, and I brought out my vision and mission and shared with the Force management.
“And I also solicited for their support on what they want us to add or subtract or modify in order to make an impact and take the Force forward.
“So that is that. And, the first challenge I had was the issue of confronting the Anambra off-season election. And remember, there was this threat that election would not take place. So we quickly sat down and came up with a programme of policing the election in two ways.” he stated.
The immediate questions before the Force concerning the Anambra election then, he said, were “How do we ensure that those who want to do the election or those who want to vote are protected to exercise their franchise without any molestation, and how do we keep away the other ones, those who don’t want the election to take place?”
IGP Baba added “So we brought out our programme, and we marshaled forces in two ways, and I was also invited to come and share my programme of policing Anambra election, because the President asked whether it is possible for the election to take place, and that challenge was thrown to all the security agencies, but I think it concerned mainly the Police and the State Security Service.
“So I came with a programme written down to the Federal Executive Council, and I presented ways and means of policing the election, and my request was for the President to allow me to take complete leadership of policing the election, let every other agency support the Police, and in that way, we will be able to come out as one single force, having the same objective, so that our deployment should not be duplicated.
“So I was the one that presented the logistic requirement of all the services and that of the Police in terms of allowance, in terms of movement, in terms of transportation.
“But at the end, the President asked, ‘If we give you what you want, you will be able to deliver.’ And that request was approved, and so we ran into Anambra election, and we crime mapped all the areas that they might be, including the neighbouring States, and blocked all entries and so forth. So, the Military was allocated those responsibilities.
“So that was what we did, and we successfully did the election, and I was a little bit jittery because APC didn’t win. But the President said he has already congratulated the Governor that won the election.” he stated.
Baba said the former President also exhibited the same thing by having no anointed candidate for the 2023 APC Presidential primaries election.
“Political interference was sincerely zero.” the former IGP Baba stated.
Noting that retired senior officers were basically beggars before Buhari’s administration due to non-payment of their pensions, Baba added, “But the President improved the pension payments, and since then, they became okay.”
On the building of Police barracks, he said, “I made a presentation to the President that there is no new barrack, or there is no Police barrack that is less than 25 years old.”
To improve the situation, he said the late President set up a committee chaired by the Vice President with members including the Minister of Finance, the Chief of Defence Staff, himself, Federal Mortgage Bank and so forth.
According to him, it was aimed at massively building of barracks on Police lands.
Noting that the NPF under him also complained about the issue of Police salaries and wages, IGP Baba said the late President also set up a committee chaired by the Minister of Police Affairs, and co-chaired by the Chairman, Salaries and Wages Commission and other members.
The move, he said, was successfully implemented, and the salaries and wages were increased with a condition that a way should be found to monetise some of the services that the Police provide.
By then, he pointed out that some Police duties in places like banks were monetised, but that the amounts they were paying were ‘laughable.’
Speaking about some qualities of late President Buhari, IGP Baba said “He listens very well, but he wants you to tell him what decision you have taken about the problem you are presenting, or what solution you are providing.
“I’ve never gone to the President to present problem without suggesting solution, or I will brief him on what I have done based on what had happened. And there are many instances about this.” he said.
