Egbetokun may stay longer as Inspector General of Police, as lawmakers move to amend crucial law
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, may stay longer as the number one policeman in the country as the House of Representatives has passed a bill that could extend the tenure beyond the dictates of the public service rules.
Penpushing reports that the House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to amend crucial law as the Speaker Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas and Chairman of the House Committee on Police Affairs, Abubakar Yalleman, sponsored the bill seeking to amend Section 18 of the Police Act by creating a new subsection guaranteeing a four-year tenure for Inspector General of Police (IGPs), regardless of the public service rules.
The amendment aims to allow Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) to serve beyond the current limits of 35 years in service or the age of 60, while the principal Act, Section 18(8) states that every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve in the Nigeria Police Force for a period of 35 years or until he attains the age of 60 years, whichever is earlier.
Penpushing further reports that, Section 7 of the Police Act, however, states that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) shall serve a tenure of four years, however, in the passed bill, lawmakers seek to create a new Section 18(8A) that gives the police boss special civil service rights and enforces Section 7 of the Act.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (8) of this section, any person appointed to the office of Inspector-General of Police shall remain in office until the end of the term stipulated in the letter of appointment in line with the provisions of Section 7(6) of this Act,” the proposed bill reads.
Penpushing also reports that, the Majority Leader, Hon Julius Ihonvbere, leading the debate on the proposed amendment said the bill seeks to ensure continuity of tenure, arguing that this is to prevent the constant rollover before the expiration of the tenure of the Inspector General of Police.
“This is to prevent the constant rollover before the expiration of the tenure of the IG. It does not affect the other parts of the tenure of the IGP. It is to say that the tenure lasts as it is stipulated in the letter of appointment’, Ihonvbere added.
Penpushing reports that the bill was considered by the Committee of the Whole and adopted without any opposition, and it was subsequently passed for a third reading and will be transmitted to the Senate for concurrence.
The Inspector General of Police, who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, is expected to retire in September 2024 when he reaches the retirement age of 60, having been born on September 4, 1964.
Penpushing further reports that record has it that other Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs) have in the past attempted to enforce Section 7 of the Police Act but failed, and it is recalled that the former Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu in 2021 attempted to exploit the Act to extend his stay in office.
The former Inspector General of Police argued in a case at the Federal High Court that the new Nigeria Police Act gave him a four-year tenure that would only lapse in or 2024, stressing that, his tenure would lapse in 2023 if counted from 2019, when he was appointed as the police boss or in 2024 if counted from 2020, when the new Nigeria Police Act came into force.
Penpushing also reports that former President Muhammadu Buhari gave the then Inspector General of Police a three-month tenure extension but later removed him before the expiration of the tenure following protests by civil society organisations.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report it was not clear if the Senate will toe the line of the House of Representatives as the amendment needs to be passed by both chambers and signed by the President to become law.
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