BY K.P NWODO

After several days in which speculations, rumours, conjectures, debates and uncertainty swamped public space on the fate of the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed who reached the pinnacle of service crossing the mandatory 35-year service limit on the 2nd of February,2021, the Presidency through the Minister of Police Affairs finally announced its decision to extend the tenure of the retired IGP for a said period of three months.

This singular action has inevitably supplied grist to the mill of further discontentment, displeasure and vilification of the Buhari-led government as many Nigerians – lay and erudite uniformly iterate that the extension of the IGP’s stay as Czar of the Police Force is bereft of constitutional limbs even in the wildest contemplations of our extant laws and further paralyzed by the moral impropriety of the action.

This article flows from the above stream of thought, and is meticulously tabulated to succinctly, dispassionately and delicately to expound on why the presidency’s latest decision is legally handicapped, morally unsustainable and insidious for the country at this seemingly unpleasant page in the annals of our national history.

UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF IGP’S TENURE EXTENSION

Though banal and uncontrovertibly settled in our jurisprudence, the decision of the presidency gives rise for the need to reassert the supremacy of the Constitution and its exclusive role as the determinant of the validity or otherwise of any action by any authority in the country. To this end, the evergreen and coeternal words of Niki Tobi, JSC in Attorney-General, Abia State v. Attorney-General, Federation (2006) 16 NWLR (Pt. 1005) 265 at 381 paragraphs E, while commenting on the supremacy of the constitution comes in handy. The Legal Sage magisterially declared thus; “The Constitution of a nation is the fons et origo, not only of the jurisprudence but also of the legal system of the nation. It is the beginning and the end of the legal system. In Greek language, it is the alpha and the omega. It is the barometer with which all statues are measured. In line with this kingly position of the Constitution, all the three arms of Government are slaves of the Constitution, not in the sense of undergoing servitude or bondage, but in the sense of total obeisance and loyalty to it.” ALSO SEE Section 1(1) and (3) of the Constitution.

Based on this understanding, to establish the invalidity or otherwise of extending the IGP’s tenure recourse must be made preeminent position of the Constitution and on this swing, Sections 215 (1), 216 (2) and paragraph 27 to the 3rd schedule of the 1999 Constitution appropriately caters for the subject matter and will be therefore be plucked out for verbatim reproduction below:
215 (1) (a) an Inspector-General of Police who, subject to section 216(2) of this Constitution shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Nigeria Police Council from among serving members of the Nigeria Police Force;
216 (2) Before making any appointment to the office of the Inspector-General of Police or removing him from office the President shall consult the Nigeria Police Council.
Paragraph 27, Third Schedule; The Nigeria Police Council shall comprise the following members -(a)the President who shall be the Chairman; (b)the Governor of each State of the Federation; (c) the Chairman of the Police Service Commission; and (d)the Inspector-General of Police.
Furthermore, it is also appropriate to consult the Police Act on this issue to acknowledge its position on the extension of the tenure of an Inspector General. In crystal clear terms, Section 7(6) of the Police Act, 2020 provides that “The person appointed as Inspector General of Police shall serve for a tenure of four years subject to the provision of section 18(8) of the Act.” Section 18(8) stipulates that “Every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve for a period of 35 years or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.”

From a clinical dissection, bisection and dispassionate analysis of the above pellucid reproductions from the Constitution and the Police Act,2020, the following submissions can be logically made;
• That our laws (The Constitution and the Police Act) do not contemplate for the extension, elongation, addition or renewal of the IGP’s tenure. It is unfounded in the gamut of our laws and therefore such action is grossly deficient of the legal vitality needed to obtain constitutional validity.
• That an Inspector General of Police can only serve in that office for four years; and if he attains retirement age (35 years of service or 65years of age) before reaching four years in office, he is to vacate the office nevertheless.
• That the presidential power to appoint or sack an IGP is not arbitrary, but in consultation with the Nigeria Police Council.
• Assuming but not conceding that the tenure of an IGP can be extended, such must also be done by the President in consultation with the Nigeria Police Council.
• That in consonance with the dictates of Section 215 (1) of the Constitution, only a serving member of the Police can be IGP, and the unambiguous provision of Section 18(8) of the Police Act implies that a serving member of the Police is an officer yet to attain 35 years in service or 65 years of age.

The implication of the afore-mooted points is that the presidential extension of IGP Adamu Mohammed’s tenure is invalid, unconstitutional, null and void by any stretch of legal imagination.

MORAL IMPROPRIETY OF THE EXTENSION

On another strand of same argument, the extension of the Inspector General’s tenure also fails the moral test and falls short of logical reasoning for a number of notorious factors and facts.

First, the state of security in the country has supersonically moved from bad to unbearable under IGP Adamu’s watch. The Police has remained dazed, stupefied and castrated by the activities of criminal elements all over the country. Banditry, killer herdsmen, kidnapping and other crimes have all flourished like trees planted by the riverside under Adamu Mohammed. The Police has lost grip of the security situation in the country and has abdicated their role for regional security networks and local vigilantes as the people are left with no option but to secure themselves from rampaging criminals relentlessly pummeling their various cities and villages without confrontation from the Police. In fact, the Police under IGP Adamu has disappointedly failed to secure itself talk less of the citizenry. During the violent twist to the ENDSARS protest, policemen were killed haplessly like sheep for festivity, police stations were ransacked and armouries looted. Till date, a number of those stations razed down are yet to be rehabilitated, the looted weapons unrecovered and in some parts of the country police stations currently close earlier than businesses for fear of attacks; this is how low the Nigeria Police Force which used to be one of Africa’s most revered has condescended under Adamu’s leadership.
With these subpar performance indices, is the retainment of the IGP justifiable? Of course, not.

Secondly, with this extension, the President has for umpteenth time displayed his insincerity and disdain for thorough abidance to the rule of law. In time past, the Presidency has employed rhetorics and wit to prevaricate on the President’s constant negation of the extant provisions of our laws on various issues.
This time, the Police Act wittingly assented to by the same President in September, 2020 is the victim of the President’s lack of respect for the rule of law. It is self-contradictory and insincere for the President to obstinately reject to abide by the provisions of law he signed by himself less than six months ago. Sighs! Speaks much of Mr. President’s integrity.

Lastly, the Minister Police Affairs in his statement cited the need for sufficient time to choose a replacement for the IGP. This is most counterintuitive and hypocritical. IGP Adamu Mohammed’s retirement did not happen as a shock. If the President is keen on doing what is right and legal, he could have started his scout for a new IGP long before now.

CONCLUSION
It is highly disappointing that at such a critical point in our nation’s history, the Presidency would treat an issue as delicate and important as the appointment of the Inspector General of Police in a surreptitious and questionable manner. This certainly will not augur well for our very volatile security as it is capable of stoking apathy and anger within the rank and file of the force.

Conclusively, I recommend a legal unguent for this malady. The action recently instituted by Maxwell Okpara to compel the President to follow the provision of the Constitution for the appointment of the Inspector General of Police is commendable and should be heard and decided expeditiously.

May the Constitution overcome this renewed assualt.
God bless Nigeria.

Kelechi Prosper Nwodo a law student, public commentator and writer writes from Benin.
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