We’re Investigating Some Governors Over Inciting Statements, Says IGP

The Inspector- General of Police Usman Baba has said the force is investigating the comments by some governors and other individuals over the crisis created by the Federal Government’s currency swap policy. Speaking at a news conference on the outcome of the National Security Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa yesterday, Baba also said Buhari had ordered security forces to maintain law and order during and after the February 25-March 11 general election. Baba said: “We are investigating. Whoever does anything can be investigated. But for him to be prosecuted, there are people who have immunity, I think that is some of the reasons, but that will not stop us from caution    Wednesing them, from warning them and from advising them and we are doing so. That’s for incitement by governors.” On the President’s directive, the IGP said: “The specific instruction is that we must ensure that Nigerians are allowed to come out and exercise their franchise or vote for the leaders of their choice and for that we must create a conducive environment or atmosphere for Nigerians to exercise their rights. “We must also provide protection for INEC materials and officials to do their work. We must ensure that before, during and after the election, whatever fall back it is, we do not have people who will take the laws their hands and if there are any, we should be able to check within the quickest possible means to ensure that it does not snowball into a crisis.” Commenting on the increased military presence in Lagos and Ogun, the police chief said: “These are joint opera  cautiontions, aimed at stabilising the internal security order before the election. These are not operations that are targeted at the election, but it is targeted at stabilising the situation, especially the one that came up as a result of the currency swap or whatever we can call it where people go on vandalising, destroying and even committing arson and so on and so forth.” Responding to the recent allegation by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment that the President was misadvised on the Supreme Court order on the naira redesign, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN), said: “My immediate reaction to it is to draw your attention that as far as advice to Mr. President is concerned, there are multiple perspectives from which advice is tendered or perhaps processed to the President. “There could be opinions or perhaps advice that have economic and monetary undertones, arriving from prevailing legislation. “This opinion naturally comes from the Central Bank, if the issue in contention is an issue that borders on monetary and financial regulatory policies of the government. “There are issues, equally, that have legal undertones, in respect of which perhaps the Office of the AGF and Minister of Justice renders advisory services in terms of legal opinion. There are those issues, equally, that may have legislative or political undertones. “So against the background of the multiple layers of proffering opinion, it will be difficult for me to arrive at a conclusion by way of reacting in one way or the other to the submissions of the minister (Keyamo) in view of the fact that he wasn’t specific as to the direction of the advisory that you are perhaps making reference to. “So I am not in a position to take issue, one way or the other, taking into consideration the multiplicity of the possibilities of advisory services.”