Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), has highlighted reasons why he is happy that Tunji Disu is taking over from him as the country’s acting police chief.
Egbetokun spoke on Wednesday at the State House in Abuja, during the swearing-in and decoration of Disu as acting IGP.
The former IGP resigned from his position on Tuesday, following a directive from President Bola Tinubu.
“I am happy that he is the one taking over from me. My advice to him is that he already knows all the things we have been doing together — strengthening operations, enhancing intelligence coordination, improving the inter-agency deployment model, dismantling several criminal syndicates, and improving our intelligence response mechanisms. I am sure he will continue to do that,” the former IGP said.
Egbetokun advised the new acting IGP to continue to remain committed to his duties, noting that Disu has been part of his administration from the beginning.
“He was my principal staff officer; he was commissioner of police in Rivers state and in the FCT; he was assistant inspector-general in charge of my special protection unit,” Egbetokun said.
“When the president gave the presidential directive to withdraw police officers from VIP protection, he was the person I called upon to ensure that the directive was fully complied with, and he did it very well.”
Egbetokun said he is “particularly excited” to hand over to Disu, noting that they share “unique history” and both benefited from the mentorship of Tinubu during his tenure as governor of Lagos state.
“I remember learning many things from him (Tinubu), but there is something in particular I recall,” he said.
“He once said that a good leader should have a successor and a succession plan and must invest in his likeliest successors.
“I invested in likely successors in the Nigeria Police Force, and I am happy that one of those I invested in has been found most suitable for the job and has been decorated today.”
Egbetokun thanked the president for trusting him with different positions, especially when he appointed him as his chief security officer when he was governor of Lagos state, and subsequently as IGP when he became president.
“I am deeply grateful to him,” Egbetokun said.
