Buhari sacks Amnesty Programme DG, Dikkio, as Dada replaces Smith at Police Commission

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked Colonel Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd) as Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

President Buhari also approved the appointment of Major-General Barry Ndiomu (retired) as Interim Administrator of the Programme.

Ndiomu appointment was announced in a statement by President Buhari’s Media and Publicity Senior Adviser, Femi Adesina, Thursday.

According to Adesina, General Ndiomu (rtd) will serve as a replacement for the sacked Dikio. No reason was given for the removal of Dikio.

“The appointee hails from Odoni in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and was admitted to the Nigerian Defence Academy as part of 29th Regular Combatant Course.

“He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in 1983. He held several command and staff appointments in the course of his successful military career. He retired in December 2017.

“Gen Ndiomu also trained as a lawyer, and is alumnus of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Administrative Staff College of Nigeria, Badagry, Harvard Kennedy School, and George C Marshall Centre for European Security Studies, among others.”

Both Dikio and Ndiomuhail from Bayelsa State.

Meanwhile, following the resignation of Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Alhaji Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police (IGP), Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, has been nominated as the acting Chairman pending the appointment of a new head by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Smith formally resigned his appointment, Wednesday, which was accepted by President Buhari, over his position on the controversial police recruitment that has pitched the commission against the Nigeria Police Force over right to conduct the exercise.

A statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations​, PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, Thursday, said Smith’s resignation which has been accepted by Mr. President takes immediate effect, adding that ‘Alhaji Smith retired on health grounds.’

“Following his resignation and in pursuant to Schedule 2(4) sub-section 2(2) of the Police Service Commission Establishment Act 2001, Members of the Board of the Commission met yesterday, Wednesday, September 14th, 2022, and nominated a colleague, Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, as the acting Chairman pending the appointment of a new Chairman by Mr. President.

“Justice Ogunbiyi who was until her nomination the Commissioner 1 in the Commission and next in hierarchy to the former Chairman, expressed her appreciation to her colleagues for the confidence reposed on her and pledged to run an inclusive administration based on the rule of law.

“She said the Commission deserves the best and promised to ensure that the Board will do everything possible to give the Staff, a Commission they will be proud of.

“We will do our best by the grace of God and I believe our best will be good enough,” she noted.

In a related development, the striking members of the Joint Union Congress of the Commission have suspended their industrial action in order to allow the new Management of the PSC to look into their demands.

The present Board of the Commission was inaugurated on the 25th of July 2018 and is expected to exit on the 24th of July 2023.