The Federal High Court in Abuja, has fixed April 16 to deliver judgement in the suit by Maxwell Opara, challenging the legality of the three-month tenure extension of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned the matter for judgement, after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.
Joined in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and the Nigeria Police Council.
The Plaintiff counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel, urged the court to declare the continued stay of Adamu as IGP, as illegal and unconstitutional,
Victor Elodimuo, who represented President Buhari, the AGF and the Nigeria Police Council, argued that the decision to retain Adamu as the IGP was not in breach of either the 1999 Constitution, as amended, or the Police Act and it’s in exercise of the executive power conferred on him by the Constitution.
And neither the Council nor the Police Service Commission, have disclosed that Adamu is no longer a serving police officer.
Likewise, Adamu’s lawyer, Alex Iziyon, while urging the court to dismiss the suit, argued that going by section 136 of the Nigerian Police Act, his client, could remain in office as the IGP till 2024.
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The IGP, who attained the maximum 35 years in service on February 1, but got a three-month tenure extension by President Buhari on February 3, 2021, argued that his tenure never elapsed.
He said that the new Nigeria Police Act, gave him a four-year tenure which would only expire in either 2023 or 2024.
He therefore, prayed the court to dismiss the suit.
Opara had in his suit, contended that by virtue of section 215 of the Nigerian Constitution and section 7 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, Adamu could not validly continue to function as the IGP, having retired as a member of the Nigeria Police Force as from the midnight of February 1, 2021.
Edited by Tunde Orebiyi.
