The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the law permits him to remain in office till either 2023 or 2024.
He said this in his court documents filed on Monday to counter a suit challenging the three-month extension granted him by President Muhammadu Buhari after Mr Adamu attained the maximum 35 years in service on February 1 but got a three-month extension of his tenure by the President on February 3.
It was reported that an Abuja-based lawyer, Maxwell Opara, filed a suit on the same February 3 to challenge the tenure extension.
Mr Opara argued in his suit that by virtue of section 215 of the Nigerian Constitution and section 7 of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, Mr Adamu could not validly continue to function as the IGP having retired as a member of the Nigeria Police Force as from midnight of February 1, 2021.
But Mr Adamu argued through his lawyer, in objection to the suit, that his tenure never lapsed on February 1.
The IGP argued that the new Nigeria Police Act gave him a four-year tenure which would only lapse in either 2023 or 2024.
According to him, his tenure will lapse in 2023 if counted from 2019 when he was appointed as the IGP, or 2024, if counted from 2020 when the new Nigeria Police Act came into force.