Dear Colleagues,

Recall that the tenure of Mr. Mohammed Adamu as the Inspector General of Police which expired on the 1st day of February 2021 was further extended by 3 months.

The leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association have looked at the said tenure extension, and is of the considered opinion that the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, does not have the powers to extend the tenure of the Inspector General of Police and that such extension is unconstitutional.

Consequently, the Nigerian Bar Association through the NBA Public Interest Litigation Committee (NBA-PILC), has instituted a suit at the Federal High Court challenging the said tenure elongation.

Attached here is the NBA President’s Statement on the issue,and a copy of the originating processes challenging the said extension.

Dr. Rapulu Nduka
Publicity Secretary
Nigerian Bar Association

Read the statement below

INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF POLICE – EXTENSION OF TENURE OF OFFICE

Distinguished Colleagues,

In fidelity to the motto of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) which is Promoting the Rule of Law, on Thursday, 11 February 2021, the NBA-Public Interest Litigation Committee (NBA-PILC), on behalf of the NBA, commenced legal action at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/214/2021 (the “Suit”) against the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Police Service Commission, and Mr. Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.

In the Suit, the NBA seeks judicial determination of the constitutionality of the President’s extension of Mr Adamu’s tenure as the Inspector-General of Police for three months after Mr. Adamu had, on 1 February 2021, attained thirty-five years of service as a member of the Nigeria Police Force.

The NBA’s decision to take this extraordinary line of action is underpinned by an urgent need, and a sacred duty, to reassert the supremacy of the rule of law in the face of growing impunity and the seeming reluctance of Law Officers in Government to give proper counsel.

The NBA’s position in the Suit is that Mr Adamu ceased to be a member of the Nigeria Police Force when he attained the milestone of thirty-five years of service. Therefore, the President’s extension of Mr Adamu’s tenure by three months, in the NBA’s respectful view, is unconstitutional.

In the grand scheme of things, the NBA is wary that the more government officials casually violate the law, the harder it would become to expect citizens to be compliant. Citizens take their cues from their leaders and public office holders who flout the laws of the country that they are meant to uphold will discover sooner or later that their examples will be followed by those that they purport to govern.

The ubiquity of acts of impunity, especially by those in high public offices, portends an existential threat to the survival of this country and her hard-won democracy. The NBA, now more than ever, is firmly committed to changing this narrative.

As the outcome of the Suit is awaited, the NBA will continue to condemn and confront lawlessness in any form and from all quarters.

OLUMIDE AKPATA
President

In the Originating summons the Plaintiff claims against the Defendants as follows:

A DECLARATION that the act of the 1st Defendant in purporting to extend the tenure of the 3rd Defendant as the Inspector General of Police after his retirement from the service of the Nigerian Police Force is in contravention of the provisions of Section 215(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended and therefore, nullify and void.

A DECLARATION that the act of the 1st Defendant is in purporting to extend the tenure of the 3rd Defendant as the Inspector General of Police after his retirement from the service of the Nigerian Police Force is in contravention of the provisions of Sections 7(3) &(6) and 18(8) of the Nigerian Police Force Act, 2020, and therefore unlawful, null and void.

A DECLARATION that the 1st Defendant lacks the authority, vires and power to extend the tenure of the Occupant/holder of the office of the Inspector General of Police.

An ORDER setting aside the purported elongation of the tenure of the 3rd Defendant as the Inspector General of Police of Nigeria.

AN ORDER directing the 3rd Defendant to vacate forthwith the office of the Inspector General of Police and refund all salaries, allowances and benefits received from February 1, 2021, (when he retired from the Police Force) to the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

AN ORDER of perpetual injunction restraining the 1st Defendant either by himself and/or acting through any of his Ministers, officers, servants and/or under any guise further breach the provision of Section 215(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended by extending the tenure of the occupant of the office of the Inspector General of Police of Nigeria.