The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has sued President Muhammadu Buhari for extending by three months, the tenure of the Inspector General of Police, who was expected to retire this month, having served the mandatory 35 years in public service.

In a suit filed Thursday at a Federal High Court in Lagos, NBA’s Public Interest Litigation Committee is seeking an order for Adamu to be replaced, as stipulated by the provisions of Section 215(1)(a) of the Nigerian constitution.

The NBA sought an order

setting aside the purported elongation of the tenure” of the IGP.

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.

The suit was instituted to promote the rule of law in the country, according to the President of the NBA,

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.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.