How Tinubu Controversially Extended IGP Egbetokun’s Tenure

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has extended the tenure of Kayode Egbetokun as Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, IGP.

His tenure as Nigeria’s top police boss was supposed to end this month, on September 4 but has now been extended by three years by the president, according to Daily Trust citing various sources in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the IGP’s tenure was extended despite his impending retirement age of 60, which he will reach tomorrow, September 4, 2024.

According to the sources, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, presented the IGP with a letter confirming his tenure extension on Monday.
A senior security officer at the SGF Office also confirmed that the IGP received his letter of tenure extension from Akume on Monday morning.

The move comes after the Senate passed a bill amending the Police Act 2020, which introduced a new clause allowing police officers to serve for 40 years or until they reach the age of 65, whichever comes first.

Egbetokun, who was appointed IGP in June 2023, would have been due for retirement tomorrow.

Last week, a civil society organisation,  Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, had chided President Tinubu over his rumoured plan to extend the tenure of Egbetokun.

RULAAC Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, in a statement made available to journalists, urged the president to “avoid the wrongful, patently illegal, and unconstitutional steps of the past, which led to controversies and judicial challenge of appointments made by the president.”

  Nwanguma said: “The Police Act 2020 prescribed a four-year tenure for the Inspector-General of Police. It was, therefore, expected that a person to be appointed Inspector-General of Police should have no less than 4 years before his/her retirement date. The Police Act also required that the Police Council meet to advise the president on the appointment of a new IGP when there is a vacancy, among other roles.

“Unfortunately, former President Muhammadu Buhari, in all the appointments he made while in office, was not known to have ever convened the Police Council, but instead, single-handedly handpicked and appointed an officer of his choice as IGP even when the officer’s retirement date was far behind the stipulated tenure of office.

“In appointing the current IGP, President Tinubu also followed this similar path by appointing him when he had barely two years to retire.

“President Tinubu was expected to avoid the wrongful, patently illegal, and unconstitutional steps of the past, which led to controversies and judicial challenge of appointments made by the president. This, unfortunately, became the norm.

“The President was expected to live by example and demonstrate his oft-repeated commitment to the rule of law and constitutionalism by ensuring that the appointment of the next IGP to replace Egbetokun who was expected to retire in the first week of September 2024 was done in total compliance with Constitutional and Statutory stipulations.

“The appointment was expected to have been devoid of nepotism or other forms of favouritism or partisan political considerations. Unfortunately, the President has continued with the anomalous practice of extension of the tenure of a ‘preferred IGP’.

“The negative effect is that while his mates would retire on the due date, he remains in service and office, stagnating the rise of numerous officers under him. This is unfair. It kills morale and breeds discontent and indiscipline.

“President Tinubu is not known to have consulted the Police Council, which he chairs, to secure the concurrence of its members in the appointment process, as required by both the Constitution and the Police Act.

“It is appalling that politics of self-interest could be taken so far as to amend the Police Act in order to achieve the extension of tenure of an IGP who otherwise was due to retire and vacate office.

“It was expected that President Tinubu would avoid a repeat of the pitfalls, errors, and brazen illegalities of the past. He was looked upon as a self acclaimed democrat to ensure that appointments are based on legal and constitutional stipulations, merit, competence, qualifications, seniority, and existing line of succession.

“The President has betrayed the hope and expectation that he would chart a refreshingly new course, in tandem with his expressed commitment to the rule of law and the undertaking he publicly gave in his inauguration address on May 29, 2023,” he stated.