Abuja based lawyer and human rights activist, Maxwell Opara, has hauled President Bola Tinubu and Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to the Apex Court in Abuja, requesting the court to stop Egbetokun from parading self as Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police.
The Lawyer is likewise requesting the court to proclaim that Egbetokun cannot stay in office as Inspector General of Police, having reached the age of 60 on the fourth of September 2024.
Opara similarly requested the court to hold that an appointment terminated by operation of law cannot be retroactively revived by a subsequent amended law.
No date has been slated for the hearing of the suit.
In a statement endorsed by the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, on Friday, the police said President Bola Tinubu did not extend the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
He said that instead, the President endorsed the law governing the tenure of the office as required.
“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to various misleading reports and misinterpretations concerning the tenure of the Inspector General of Police, and wishes to categorically state that what President Bola Tinubu 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,” the statement read.
“Contrary to the misinformation being circulated on social media and in the news, 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).”
As indicated by Adejobi, the IGP doesn’t need to lobby for any tenure elongation, as he presently can’t use the years stated in his appointment letter.
“It is important to emphasize 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 ongoing circulation of false information is the handiwork of pessimists and mischief-makers, who are determined to spread baseless narratives against the office and the personality of the IGP for obvious reasons and pecuniary gains,” he added.
