By Abimbola Ogunnaike
A Federal High Court in Abuja Presided over by Justice J.k. Omotosho on Tuesday, 21 February, 2023, threw out a suit compelling President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, on his retirement from service.
Justice Omotosho held that the plaintiff, Michael Sam Idoko, lacked the locus standi to bring the application and was academic and hypothetical.
According to the judge, the expiration of the IGP’s tenure by age cannot deny him from enjoying his four-year tenure as contained in the Police Act 2020.
Idoko had brought the suit contending that Baba was bound to retire upon attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 35 years of service or attainment of the age of 60 years.
In the suit wherein he joined the Nigeria Police Force, Usman Alkali Baba; the Nigeria Police Council, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Idoko contended that the president’s extension of the IGP’s tenure was a violation of Section 215(a) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.
