Egbetokun may stay longer as IGP as Reps move to amend crucial law

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that could extend the tenure of the current Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, beyond the dictates of the public service rules.

The bill, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Chairman of the House Committee on Police Affairs, Abubakar Yalleman, seeks to amend Section 18 of the Police Act by creating a new subsection guaranteeing a four-year tenure for IGPs, regardless of the public service rules.

The amendment aims to allow Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) to serve beyond the current limits of 35 years in service or the age of 60.

In the principal Act, Section 18(8) states: “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, Section 7 of the Police Act states that the IGP shall serve a tenure of four years.

In the passed bill, lawmakers seek to create a new Section 18(8A) that gives IGPs special civil service rights and enforces Section 7 of the Act.

“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 proposed bill reads.

Leading the debate on the proposed amendment, the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, said the bill seeks to ensure continuity of tenure.

“This is to prevent the constant rollover before the expiration of the tenure of the IG. It does not affect the other parts of the tenure of the IGP. It is to say that the tenure lasts as it is stipulated in the letter of appointment,” Mr Ihonvbere said.

The bill was considered by the Committee of the Whole and adopted without any opposition.

It was subsequently passed for a third reading and will be transmitted to the Senate for concurrence.

It is unclear if the Senate will toe the line of the House as the amendment needs to be passed by both chambers and signed by the president to become law.

Implications of the legislation

Mr Egbetokun, who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2023, is expected to retire in September 2024 when he reaches the retirement age of 60. He was born on 4 September 1964.

If the bill clears the Senate hurdle and is signed into law by the president, Mr Egbetokun could stay in office until June 2027 unless removed by the president.

Other IGPs have in the past attempted to enforce Section 7 of the Police Act but failed.

In 2021, former IGP Mohammed Adamu tried to exploit the Act to extend his stay in office.

Mr Adamu argued in a case at the Federal High Court that the new Nigeria Police Act gave him a four-year tenure that would only lapse in or 2024.

According to him, his tenure would lapse in 2023 if counted from 2019, when he was appointed as the IGP, or in 2024 if counted from 2020, when the new Nigeria Police Act came into force.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari gave the then IGP a three-month tenure extension but later fired him before the expiration of the tenure following protests by civil society organisations.