By Udenna Orji
Reports by sections of the media that President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the sacking of top police officers have been described by the Presidency as untrue and misleading.
In a statement signed yesterday by Presidential Spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, the Presidency said it viewd "the highly sensationalized reports as a deliberate attempt to cause anxiety and disaffection amongst the top hierarchy of the Police Force through the willful misrepresentation of President Jonathan's remarks at the swearing-in of the new Chairman and members of the Police Service Commission".
"The swearing-in ceremony at which President spoke yesterday was directly covered by members of the State House Press Corps and as a significant number of them rightly reported, the thrust of the President's remarks was that the new Chairman and members of the Police Service Commission should strive to effectively discharge their statutory function of enhancing discipline and efficiency in the service by ensuring that performance, competence and merit are the primary criteria for career progression in the Police", the statement said.
The Presidency noted that, "the full transcript and recording of the President's remarks at the occasion are available to all sections of the media and they clearly show that at no point in the course of his comments did the President "order" or "direct" the Police Service Commission to "sack" any police officer. President Jonathan was certainly not giving fresh orders or rewriting the rules when he said: "People who are promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police and above must merit the rank. If you don't merit the rank, you should be retired from the service".
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