Buhari re-appoints his nephew Abdulkarim Dauda as his chief personal security officer

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the service extension of his chief personal security officer (CPSO) Abdulkarim Dauda for another three years extending his retirement date to May 13, 2023 from the proposed January 1, 2020.

Mr Dauda, who is President Buhari's nephew, was promoted to the rank of commissioner of police last year and is in charge of personal security. Born in 1963, Mr Dauda was enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as a cadet officer on January 1, 1985 and would have served the mandatory 35 years in service in January 2020.

Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, the secretary of the Nigeria Police Force directed the force’s  department of information technology to amend their records to reflect the development. Prior to his posting to the State House as President Buhari's personal security officer, Mr  Dauda served in different police commands and formations, including the Sokoto State Police Command, Force Criminal Department Lagos, Katsina State Police Command, Lagos State Police Command, Edo State Police Command, Police College Kaduna and the Kano State Command.

Originally, the CPSO office was created by President Goodluck Jonathan to pave the way for his aide-de-camp, Moses Jitoboh, to be part of his personal security structure. A few months after President Buhari’s inauguration, his nephew was redeployed to serve as his CPSO.

Mr Dauda subsequently removed Daura from his name to allegedly prevent the public from tracing his family connection to the president following criticisms over him appointing his family and kinsmen to government offices. His stay in the force had been generating tension in the Police Service Commission (PSC),  as senior officials regard President Buhari’s action as a usurpation of the PSC’s powers and a violation of the constitution.

Constitutionally, it is the PSC that is supposed to deploy senor officials or approve their promotions. One PSC official claimed the CPSO was being groomed to succeed the inspector-general of police, Mohammed Adamu, in 2021.

He added: “The plan is to promote the CPSO to the rank of assistant inspector general (AIG) and then make him the inspector-general 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.”