Some political party leaders have advised the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, to ensure discipline and patriotism in the force.
The political leaders spoke in separate interviews in Lagos on Tuesday, said that though the police performed creditably during the 2011 elections, it was glaring that there was still room for improvement.
They, therefore, urged the IG not to allow himself to be used by politicians for their selfish ends.
Mr Godfrey Lemchi, the Lagos State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the IG should redeem the image of the force during his tenure.
“He has to ensure that discipline and patriotism is felt in the Nigeria police.
“He has also to ensure that he fights corruption to the minimum because this is one of the things that people have against the Nigeria police.
“He has also to build confidence in the police also; let them have the sense of patriotism, pride and sense of belonging so that they can cooperate with him because the job. It is onerous not a question of changing batons.
“He has a lot of job to do. Once the police is transformed and made to be a better institution in Nigeria, I think most of our problems in Nigeria would have been taken care of.”
According to Lemchi, the police have suffered a lot, with their image battered by inherent corruption, incompetence and dubious execution of their responsibility,? resulting in the loss of public confidence.
Also speaking, Alhaji Abdulrahman Baffa, an ACN party chief, advised the acting IG not to compromise his position.
“The new IG should live up to expectations of Nigerians and to restore peace to Nigeria. Secondly, to restore the confidence by uplifting the integrity and the image of the Nigeria police.
“We expect the new IG not to allow himeslf to be used by politicians to rig elections because that will not help in restoring the image of the police in Nigeria.
“When rig elections, people do not get their wish and the people that always get through the back door anywhere in any aspect of life – you do not expect them to really perform; to listen to people or live up to the expectations of the public.”
He, however, said Nigeria was beginning to establish a standard in leadership, as the acting IG belonged to a younger generation.