Court upholds President’s power to extend IGP’s tenure

A federal high court in Abuja has upheld the power of the president to extend the tenure of a retiring inspector general of police, pending the completion of the process for the appointment of a substantive successor.

Justice Ahmed Mohammed gave the ruling on Friday in a suit by a lawyer, Maxwell Okpara, challenging president Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to extend the tenure of the immediate past inspector general, Muhammed Abubakar Adamu for three months.

Justice Mohammed held that the constitution and the police act empower the president to appoint an igp, and by that implication, he could extend the tenure of a retiring IGP.