A Human Right Activist and Lawyer, Barrister Maxwell Opara has proceeded to court to challenge the approval of the extension of the tenure of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Lawyer noted that Egbetokun who was appointed in July, 2023 is due for retirement and the President has no right to extend the tenure of someone that has retired .He stated that ” the law says to be qualified as IGP, you must be a serving police officer”
He however alleged that the President extended Egbetokun’s tenure because he wants his support during the 2027 election.
” He wants somebody to be there to help him out in 2027 election and we have come to challenge it”
Barr. Maxwell recalled that the exact situation occurred when former president, Mohammed Buhari was in power.He revealed that he wrote to Tinubu at the time and he concurred with his standpoint.
” When Buhari wanted to exted Mohammed Adamu’s tenure as IGP, we came to this court to challenge it and Buhari saw our reasons and asked the man to go”
” When Usman Babali Akali was about to go, two weeks before his retirement, the same Buhari extended his tenure and gave him another four years as an IGP and we challenged it. I wrote to Tinubu and he said what I said was good.He asked the man to go”
” It is now time for Kayode Egbetokun who is the present IGP .He was Assistant Inspector General (AIG) when we were fighting this same thing ”
However, the Nigeria Police Force stated that what President Tinubu’s approved for the IGP is not an extension of tenure, but rather the proper application of the law governing the tenure of the office of the IGP.
Recently, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi in a press release explained that , an appointment letter in circulation was issued to the IGP shortly after his appointment was confirmed by the Police Council.
“This letter, dated 3rd November 2023, clearly stated that the President had approved a four-year tenure for the IGP in accordance with the provisions of Section 215(a) and Section 28(c) of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)”
He emphasised that the IGP does not need to lobby for any tenure extension as his appointment letter explicitly grants him a four-year tenure from the date of his appointment.
“The IGP has since been issued with another letter in accordance with the provisions of the Police Act, 2020 (as amended), which supersedes the earlier correspondence”
