The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has adjourned to September 2023 a suit by an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Maxwell Opara, to restrain President Muhammadu Buhari from allowing the present Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali to continue in that capacity as from March 1, 2023.
The adjournment was on grounds that the court could not sit as it was busy with election petition tribunals.
Among other things, Opara seeks the IGP to recuse office pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice on whether a person can stay in office as IGP after he is no longer a serving Police Officer.
Opara is maintains that by March 1, 2023, the tenure of the current IGP will expire and he will cease to be a serving Police Officer after then and his continued stay in office will be a continuous breach of the provisions of the 1999 constitution and the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.
He is praying the court to order the President to rescind the decision to extend the tenure of Baba Usman as the IGP because whatever document he signs after March 1, will be a nullity.
Opara therefore prayed for the urgent hearing of the matter by the appellate
Other respondents in the appeal are, Mohammed Lafia, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Nigeria Police Council
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
