[News] President can extend tenure of retiring IGP – Court rules

The Nigerian president can extend the tenure of a retiring Inspector General of Police (IGP), a federal high court in Abuja ruled on Friday June 18.

 

The judgement was given on a lawsuit filed by a lawyer Maxwell Okpara, challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s extension of the tenure of the immediate-past IGP, Mohammed Adamu by three months.

 

Justice Ahmed Mohammed who presided over the lawsuit, noted that both the Nigerian constitution and the Police Act are silent on whether or not the president can extend the tenure of a retired IGP.

 

The Judge also held that while the Nigerian president is empowered by the Nigerian constitution and the Police Act to appoint an IGP, he can by implication, 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.