Court sacks IGP Alkali, restrain him from parading himself
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Less than 48 hours to the inauguration of President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba Alkali, has been sacked.
A Federal High Court has declared him an illegal occupant of the IGP office.
The verdict was delivered by Justice Fatun Riman of a Federal High Court sitting in Awka, Anambra State.
Justice Riman ruled that Alkali’s appointment and ongoing tenure in office were “illegal and unconstitutional.
”The order was made in a judgment in a claim submitted by Okechukwu Nwafor, a taxpayer, with the case number FHC/AKW/CS/58/2023. Justice Riman also ruled that only an officer of the indicated rank with four (4) years of service, not one with less than four (4) years, can be appointed as IGP.
The court also ordered Alkali to stop parading himself as the Inspector-General of Police.
The court ordered the President to convene a meeting of the Nigeria Police Council to appoint a new Inspector General of Police who will hold office for four years.
Defendants in the suit are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Usman Alkali Baba, Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice and Nigeria Police Council.
In the judgment, the court declared that “by a community reading of the provisions of Sections 215 (a) and 216 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Sections 7 (2) & (6) and 18 (8) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, the appointment of the 2nd Defendant (Alkali) is unlawful and invalid, the 2nd Defendant not being a person capable of fulfilling the mandatory requirement of tenure of office needed to hold the office of the Inspector General of Police and/or the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) having not been complied with.
More so, the court made a declaration that “the 2nd Defendant (Alkali) is not qualified to hold the office of the Inspector General of Police for the sole reason that doing so will lead to absurdity which will amount to a complete breach and total disregard for the clear and unambiguous provision of Section 7 (6) of the.