President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged the House of Representatives to amend the Nigeria Police Act, aligning it with Section 58 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The proposed amendment focuses on the appointment and tenure of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
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Specifically, it seeks to modify the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, to allow the appointed IGP to serve the full term specified in their appointment letter.
The amendment proposes the addition of a new subsection (8A) to Section 18 of the Principal Act: “Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-section (8) of this section, any person appointed to the office of Inspector-General of Police shall remain in office until the end of the term stipulated in the letter of appointment in line with the provisions of Section 7(6) of this Act.”
The bill has successfully passed its second reading and has been referred to the Committee on the Whole.
Under the current Act, an officer must have at least four years of service to be eligible for the IGP position.
However, this requirement was not considered in the recent appointment of Kayode Egbetokun as IGP, who is set to retire in a few months.