A federal high court in Abuja has affirmed the power of the
president to extend the tenure of a retiring inspector-general of police (IGP)
pending when the process of appointing a successor is completed.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on February 4 extended the
tenure of Mohammed Adamu as inspector-general of police by three months after
he clocked the mandatory 35 years in service on February 1.
Maxwell Opara, a legal practitioner, subsequently took the
president and IGP to court, contending that by virtue of section 215 of the
Nigerian constitution and section 7 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, Adamu
cannot continue to function as the IGP, having retired as a serving member of
the force.
In his defence, the IGP told the federal high court that the
new Nigeria Police Act gave him a four-year tenure, which would only lapse in
either 2023 or 2024.
Supporting Adamu’s position, President Buhari and Abubakar
Malami, attorney-general of the federation — who are the second and third
defendants in the matter — told the court through their lawyer that the law
permits the IGP to remain in office until either 2023 or 2024.
In his judgment on Friday, Ahmed Mohammed, the presiding
judge, held that since the constitution and the police act empower the
president to appoint an IGP, by implication, he could extend the tenure of a
retiring IGP before concluding the required consultation with the police
council and other processes required for the appointment of a substantive
replacement.
The judge also observed that the constitution and the police
act are silent on the issue of whether or not the president could extend the
tenure of a retired IGP.
Alkali Usman Baba has since been appointed as the acting
IGP.
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