The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has sued President Muhammadu Buhari to a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking a judicial determination of the constitutionality of the extension of Mohammed Adamu’s tenure as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for three months.
Adamu’s tenure as IGP expired on February 1, 2021, having served for 35 years as a member of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). But Buhari unilaterally extended his service by three months.
The Suit, numbered, FHC/L/CS/214/2021 has the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Police Service Commission, and the IGP, Mohammed Adamu as defendants.
The NBA’s decision to take the legal action, according to its President, Dayo Akpata, was 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 Adamu ceased to be a member of the Nigeria Police Force when he attained the milestone of 35 years of service, saying: “The President’s extension of Adamu’s tenure by three months, in the NBA’s respectful view, is unconstitutional.”
Akpata said the NBA is wary that the more government officials casually violated the law, the harder it would become to expect citizens to be law-abiding.
Buhari and IGP Adamu
The NBA boss declared in a statement: “Citizens take their cues from their leaders and public office holders who flout the laws of the country that they are meant to uphold will discover sooner or later that their examples will be followed by those that they purport to govern.
“The ubiquity of acts of impunity, especially by those in high public offices, portends an existential threat to the survival of this country and her hard-won democracy. The NBA, now more than ever, is firmly committed to changing this narrative,” he said.
As the outcome of the suit is awaited, the NBA said it will continue to condemn and confront lawlessness in any form and from all quarters.