MIXED REACTION IN ENUGU AS PRESIDENT EXTENDS TENURE OF IGP

Reporter : CHRISTIAN NWANGENE

Some residents of Enugu metropolis have expressed divergent opinions on tenure elongation of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, by President Muhammudu Buhari.

While one of the respondents argued that the President’s action was in order, others maintained that it was ultra vires.

One of the respondents, Dr. Tony Ignis Ngene, said the elongation of tenure of the IGP by three months would have been decent if the President appointed someone else in acting capacity.

According to Dr. Ngene, the action by the President did not portray Nigeria before the International Community as a country that had respect for the rule of law where things were done on merit. 

He said in the eyes of the law, any decision taken by the IGP from the day he was due to leave office was null and void and could be challenged in court by anybody.

“We had expected that the government ought to have envisaged that the office of the IGP would have enfluxed by the 1st day of February, 2021 and adequate arrangements should have been made ab initio than creating this tension.

“It seems that the presidency was not even prepared to replace this man when he was due to retire.

“And again, in the eye of the law, any decision taken by the IGP from the 2nd day of February, 2021 is null and void ab initio because there is no provision for it.

“So, in the eyes of the law, whatever decision that is taken after the expiration of his statutary years of service is null and void and people can challenge it in court,” Dr. Ngene argued.

Also, the Founder, Leadnetwork, Mr. Chukwuma Ephraim Okenwa, noted that tenure elongation was becoming a norm with the present administration, noting that it should be jettisoned.

Mr. Okenwa said he was dissatisfied with the action, and described it as a disregard of the nation’s Constitution. 

He said it was abnormal for government to wait until people began to agitate before it acts.

For the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Enugu State Chapter, the Reverend Emmanuel Edeh, the elongation of the tenure of the IGP was not in the best interest of the nation.

The Reverend Edeh, noted that the President should have allowed the IGP to retire.

He called on the President to be leader for all Nigerians.

However, the National Chairman, Congress for the Defence of Police Force, Comrade Chris Agu, observed that the tenure elongation of the IGP was in order because the President needed more time to avoid mistake as well as appoint officer who had good human rights records.

“The Commander-in-Chief has a right to elongate if he discovered that there would be a mistake if there is rush in choosing a successor.

Even in choosing a successor within the local areas or traditional rulers, government and the people take time, they don’t want to do mistake.

“They want to go through the files of senior Police officers that will replace IG to know those that have good human rights records,” Comrade Agu contended.

The respondents, however, were unanimous that the President should consider southeast zone in the appointment of the next IGP.

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