*Says Nigerians Have A Right To Criticise Amendment
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Monday Onyekachi Ubani on Friday says it is wrong to refer to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun as occupying office illegally based on the provisions of the newly amended Police Act, which allows an Inspector General of Police to serve a full four-year term irrespective of the retirement age.
Speaking with TheScrutiny, Ubani however said Nigerians have a right to criticise the amendment, especially if they believe it was done to aid Egbetokun’s continuous stay in office.
According to him, the amendment will not apply to Egbetokun alone as subsequent IGP’s who has the same issue will also benefit from it by remaining in the police office even after attaining the retirement age of 60.
“With the amendment, it means the retirement age attained by the IGP cannot be a hindrance to him enjoying his four years tenure as recommended by the Police Act”.
“Apart from this particular IGP (Kayode Egbetokun), it means that every other IGP that will be subsequently appointed will enjoy the provision of that amendment, meaning that if you attain 60 years while you are still IGP and your four year tenure has not expired, you can still remain in office till you complete your tenure”.
“One will want to say that while it seems the law was amended to favour Egbetokun, but every other subsequent IGP who will fall in the same shoe will also enjoy that amendment”.
“In essence, the law has been amended to accommodate the situation that even after his age has made him ineligible, the law has made him eligible by giving additional more years for him to remain in the police force”.
“It will be wrong to refer to him as an illegal IGP because there is an amendment which has been done but the fact remains that people have a right to criticise that amendment, especially when looking at it from a moral angle. But their views is not meant to invalidate the law but to criticise the amendment”.
“Nigerians can express their views on it and that is the beauty of democracy and free speech. People can say they shouldn’t have amended the law to accommodate him but they should have allowed him to go after attaining the statutory age of retirement”.
“But that does not in anyway invalidate the fact that the law has been amended to accommodate him. In that light, he cannot be regarded as an illegal IGP since there has been an amendment and it was done by the National Assembly which has the authority and power under the constitution to amend the law”.
Recall that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, has also affirmed the legality of Egbetokun’s continued stay , despite his attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 60.
In a statement he signed and released on Thursday, Fagbemi clarified that Egbetokun’s tenure remains valid under the provisions of the newly amended Police Act, which allows an Inspector General of Police to serve a full four-year term irrespective of the retirement age.
