Don’t extend IGP’s tenure, Kano lawyer tells Buhari

As the debate on the tenure of the Inspector General of Police,
Ibrahim K. Idris, who clocked 60 years on January 3, 2019, heats
up, a legal practitioner in Kano State, Barrister Ali Jamilu, on
Tuesday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to shun the calls for
an extension of the IG’s tenure.

According to the legal practitioner, no existing laws in the
country justify such an extension.

Jamilu’s outburst came amidst speculations that President Buhari
is planning to extend the tenure of the Inspector General of Police
in order to secure next month’s poll.

Jamilu described the proposed moves, as unconstitutional.

”The Civil Service rules give these orders, whichever comes
first, so even if he attains 35 years in service first, he is going
to retire from service, even if he has not attained 60 years. If he
attains 60 years before putting in 35 years in service, he has to
retire. There is no place in the constitution, where the President
derives such powers to extend the IGP’s tenure because as a public
servant, he is being covered by the Public Service rules.”

However, a Professor of Political Science in Bayero University
Kano, Kamilu Sani Fagge, noted that an extension of the IG’s tenure
would have no significant political implication in the forthcoming
election.

”If somebody has the intention to use a Police officer to rig
election, it would have been easier and better to get a new person
and put him on probation, so that he or she has to prove himself
for the next appointment.

“I don’t think, extending the IG’s tenure will have any
political implication. On the contrary, if a vacuum is created, we
may likely have more problems than solving it!”