- Safiu Kehinde
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has secured fresh appointment as he emerged as the Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.
Gbajabiamila was, at the inauguration of the group saddled with the responsibility of preparing the legal framework for the implementation of state police across the country, declared the chairman of the panel.
The COS, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the inauguration ceremony held on Tuesday, will serve as the committee’s chairman with members which include the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe (SAN), and the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
Other members of the committee include the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu; and the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police.
Meanwhile, Gbajabiamila’s appointment as the chairman of the committee had sparked mixed reactions from the public.
His appointment is coming under the heels of the ongoing fake agency and corruption scandal involving him and the self-acclaimed Director-General of the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Adeniyi Matthew.
NPO Reported that Adeniyi had accused Gbajabiamila of collecting N400 million bribe from him.
This followed his earlier allegation that the crisis erupted between him and Gbajabiamila after he demanded for a substantial chunk of the take-off grant of N2.7bn from him.
The appointment of the COS as committee chairman amid the scandal had sparked mixed reactions with some netizens faulting the appointment.
“This demonstrates that the President has so much confidence in his CoS and knows his value in the administration. In the middle of the controversy of the Adeyemi saga, the CoS is made the chairman of this important National Assignment.”@MrWaleIbrahim