Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has said the continuous stay of Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), in office is lawful.
In a statement on Thursday, Fagbemi said Egbetokun’s appointment, which took effect on October 31, 2023, remains valid for a period of four years.
The AGF said since the amendment of the Police Act of 2024, the IGP will stay in office for four years “notwithstanding the fact that he has attained the age of 60 years”.
NewsClick Nigeria reports that the civil service rules stipulate that civil servants should retire at the age of 60 years or after attaining 35 years of service.
“The appointment of Egbetokun which took effect from 31st day of October, 2023 would have come to an end on his attainment of 60 years of age on 4th day of September, 2024,” the statement reads.
“However, before his retirement age, the Police Act was amended to allow the occupant of the office to remain and complete the original four-year term granted under Section 7 (6) of the Act, notwithstanding the fact that he has attained the age of 60 years.
“This has, therefore, statutorily extended the tenure of office of Egbetokun to and including the 31st day of October 2027, in order to complete the four-year tenure granted to him.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Egbetokun’s continuous stay in office is in line with the provisions of the Police Act amended in 2024 which allow the occupant of the office to enjoy a term of four years effective from the date of his appointment as IGP, in this case, 31st day of October 2023.”
On June 19, 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed Egbetokun as the IGP to replace Usman Baba.
On October 31, 2023, the National Police Council confirmed Egbetokun as the substantive IGP.
According to section 7 of the Police Act 2020, the person appointed to the office of the IGP shall hold the office for four years.
But Egbetokun, who was born on September 4, 1964, was expected to retire on September 4, 2024, when he turned 60 years old.
Section 18(8) of the Act, which makes direct reference to the civil service rule on retirement, 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.”
However, in July 2024, the national assembly hurriedly passed a bill seeking to allow the IGP to remain in office “until the end of the term stipulated in his appointment letter”.
The legislation proposed to create a new section 18(8A) to enable the IGP to stay longer than 35 years in service and 60 years of age, whichever comes first.
“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 legislation reads.
Since the passage of the bill in July 2024, there has been no announcement from the presidency on the signing of the legislation by Tinubu.
After Egbetokun turned 60 in September 2024, some persons called for his retirement, but media reports suggested that Tinubu approved the IGP’s stay in office till 2027.
Recently, Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2023, made reference to the controversy that trailed Egbetokun’s tenure by describing him as “illegal IGP”.
Due to the comment, the police arraigned Sowore on a 16-count charge for allegedly publishing false information against the IGP.
