The Chairman, Section of Public Interest and Development (SPIDEL) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Monday Ubani, has described as needless the extension of the tenure of office of the incumbent Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Speaking, while reacting to the IGP’s tenure elongation by the presidency, Dr. Ubani, who expressed sadness that the Federal High Court failed in 2021 to address the issue of whether the President has the powers to extend the tenure in office of the IGP or not, insisted that “The court failed to address the issue, whether this issue of four years that is provided for by the Police Act is going to override Section 18 of the same Act, which says every serving police officer has a timeline to put in the service.
“Now, you have a provision that suggests 35 years of pensionable period, or 60 years by age, whichever comes first, to bow out of service. “This is a conflict that requires urgent and clearer interpretation by the court.
Unfortunately, Justice Adamu, who heard the matter, failed to address the issue but made a different issue by saying that the Police Act did not specifically exclude the President from renewing the tenure of the IGP. “By the tenure elongation of the IGP, the issue of patriotism is also being destroyed, and morale is being dampened,” he said.
In stating that the law intends to ensure that there is tenure, Ubani insisted that there is no reason why the President should extend the tenure of the IGP given the fact that it is even the law that when the IGP is no longer in office, the most senior police officer steps in.
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