Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kunle Edun has reacted to the dismissal of the Nigerian Bar Association’s suit challenging the Nigeria Police Force’s tinted glass permit policy by the Federal High Court in Abuja, describing the judgment as unsurprising and vowing to continue fighting through other pending suits until the policy is stopped.
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Justice Suleman Liman of Court 11 at the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, had on Thursday dismissed in its entirety Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/182/2025 filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association on behalf of itself, Nigerian legal practitioners, and the motoring public against the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force.
In delivering judgment, Justice Liman resolved all issues in favour of the defendants, holding that the NBA failed to establish the alleged illegality of the tinted glass permit policy.
The court found that the NBA did not discharge the requisite burden of proof necessary to substantiate its claims and that the Association lacked locus standi to institute and maintain the action.
Justice Liman held that the claims did not demonstrate any violation of the provisions contained in Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution or the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules, and that the NBA failed to show any legal injury that would warrant the intervention of the court.
The judge observed that the concerns raised by the NBA appeared to be premised more on institutional convenience rather than on any legally enforceable right, and therefore did not disclose any reasonable cause of action recognizable in law.
On the substantive issue, the court held that the use of tinted glass on vehicles is not a constitutionally guaranteed right, describing the policy as a security-driven measure aimed at curbing crime. The court held that the police cannot be restrained from implementing such measures designed to ensure public safety.
Responding to the judgment, Kunle Edun SAN, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the NBA, said the decision did not come as a surprise to some of the lawyers involved in the matter. He said he reserved his comments on what he described as unpleasant events that transpired in court when he appeared in the matter.
Edun revealed that Justice Liman had earlier refused to hear the NBA’s ex parte motion seeking interim injunction when he sat as the vacation court, citing that he had only a few days left as a vacation judge.
Despite the setback, Edun SAN declared that the legal battle against the tinted glass permit policy was far from over. He disclosed that he and lawyer John Aikpokpo-Martins are prosecuting similar matters in other courts with different parties and vowed to continue the fight until the police are stopped from what he described as a scheme to earn billions of naira every month from the tinted glass permit enforcement.
Edun alleged that the police turned to the tinted glass permit as a major revenue source after President Bola Tinubu stopped their usual practice of hiring out police officers as escorts and guards for a fee.
“We will fight it till the end to stop the Police that was already set to earn billions of Naira every month from the tinted glass permit enforcement. Their usual source of income has been stopped by the President, so the only other source to generate huge revenue is the tinted glass permit,” Edun stated.
Edun SAN clarified that the NBA suit dismissed by the Abuja Federal High Court was never the basis for the current suspension of the tinted glass permit enforcement. He stated that the suspension was consequent upon orders from two other courts that remain in force.
The first is the order of the Federal High Court, Warri Division, in the case of John Aikpokpo-Martins v. IGP & Anor., where the court directed that the status quo be maintained.
The second is an order from the High Court of Justice, Delta State, sitting at the Orerokpe Judicial Division, in the case of Israel Joe v. IGP & Ors. (Suit No. HOR/FHR/M/31/2025), where Justice Joe Egwu granted an interim injunction on December 17, 2025, restraining the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, from implementing or enforcing the tinted glass permit policy pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
Court documents obtained from the Orerokpe proceedings show that Justice Egwu granted four key reliefs upon an ex parte motion filed by the applicant, Mr. Israel Joe, through a team of lawyers led by Kunle Edun SAN alongside Ikechukwu Ogbonna Esq., E.O. Onoriode Esq., S.C. Okporgu Esq., T.L. Doigboghie Esq., A.H. Okifo Esq., and Sir F.O. Yekovie and J.K. Ezugwu Esq.
The court restrained the IGP and the Nigeria Police Force from implementing or enforcing the tinted glass permit policy set to commence on January 2, 2026, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
The court also restrained the respondents from stopping, harassing, arresting, detaining, extorting, or otherwise interfering with the constitutional rights to dignity, privacy, freedom of movement, and ownership of property of the applicant and other citizens under the guise of enforcing the tinted glass permit policy.
Additionally, the court restrained the respondents from continuing to use the Parkway Projects Account, described as a private contractor’s account, to conduct any government business pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
The motion on notice for interlocutory injunction was fixed for hearing on December 24, 2025.
Edun disclosed that pursuant to the orders from both the Federal High Court, Warri, and the Delta State High Court, Orerokpe, the Inspector General of Police, through the immediate past Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Benjamin Hundeyin, issued two separate press releases directing a suspension of the enforcement of the tinted glass permit policy.
Federal High Court Dismisses NBA Suit Against Tinted Glass PermitEdun SAN commended lawyer John Aikpokpo-Martins for what he described as his undying commitment to a just and fair society, noting that Aikpokpo-Martins personally funds the prosecution of many cases on behalf of SPIDEL and his personal cases in pursuit of a better society.
He also acknowledged Olajide Abiodun, Vice Chairman of NBA Ikorodu Branch, for filing a similar action in Lagos State.
Edun thanked members of his legal team who supported the prosecution of the NBA suit at the Federal High Court, including Vincent Adoro, Danjuma, and Godspower Eroga.
While the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the NBA’s challenge, the tinted glass permit enforcement remains suspended by virtue of the subsisting orders from the Federal High Court, Warri, and the Delta State High Court, Orerokpe. The legal battle is therefore far from concluded, with multiple suits still pending across different jurisdictions.
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