A legal practitioner and rights activist, Maxwell Okpara, has prayed the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain Mohammed Adamu from parading himself as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The plaintiff also asked the court to stop Adamu from exercising any form of command over officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
Okpara who dragged through court President Muhammadu Buhari, Adamu, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Nigerian Police Council as the first to the fourth defendants, stated that Adamu’s tenure had elapsed on February 1st 2021 by virtue of the Police Act.
Adamu’s tenure expired on February 1, 2021 after completing 35 years in office as required by the Nigeria Police Act.
In the originating summons with suit number: FHC/ABJ/CS/106/2021, the plaintiff wants the court to determine whether by provisions of sections 215, 216 and section 7 of the Nigeria Police Act 2020, Adamu can continue to function as IG after February 1, 2021.
The plaintiff also wants the court to determine whether the failure of President Buhari and the the Nigeria Police Council to appoint another IG does not constitute abdication of their duties.
In a ten-paragraph affidavit deposed to by the plaintiff, he stated that though, Adamu is no longer serving a serving police officer but has continued to function in that capacity.
The plaintiff urged the court to determine if the continued stay in office by Adamu has not breached the provisions of the Constitution and the Nigerian Police Act.
The plaintiff therefore wants the court to declare as illegal, null and void all actions taken by Adamu from midnight of February 1, 2021.
Okpara wants the court to issue a restraining order on Adamu from further exercising the rights of IGP.
He also wants the court to issue an order mandating Buhari and the Nigeria Police Council to immediately appoint a new Inspector General of Police as contained in the Constitution.
No date has been fixed for hearing.
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