By Danjuma Lamido
From the day the investigation of some senior police officers began in January 2025, Sahara Reporters has been providing its few gullible followers with false and incomplete information.
In every organisation, there is always a Judas, and the Judas in the Nigerian police have been working with Sahara Reporters to leak government-sensitive information for peanuts.
Omoyele Sowore, to cause chaos in Nigeria, embarked on a mischievous mission of calling the 22nd Indigenous Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, “illegal IGP.”.
The mischievous Sowore is very aware of the Police Act 2020 (as amended), especially Section 7(6) and Section 8(a), which establish the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police at four years from the date of his letter of appointment.
Meanwhile, the office of the Inspector-General of Police is a tenured appointment irrespective of age or service years.
We all witnessed even when former President Buhari appointed a retired Army officer to head the Nigeria Customs Service. The likes of Sowore kept quiet all through the tenure of Col. Ali at the helms of affairs of the Customs.
The latest fake news from Sahara Reporters is that those Senior Police Officers indicted for age-falsifying are saying they won’t retire unless “Egbetokun—who has also surpassed his retirement age—retires with them.”.
This is laughable because I believe Sahara Reporters is just complicating the issue of the indicted officers who knew they had gone against the Civil Service Rule
020810 of Chapter two (2) of the Public Service Rules (PSR) states that the compulsory retirement age for all grades in the service shall be 60 years or 35 years of pensionable service, whichever is earlier. No officer shall be allowed to remain in service after attaining the retirement age of 60 years old or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first.
Section (8)A of the Police Act is a new subsection added to the Police Act of Nigeria by the Police Act (Amendment) Bill 2024. This subsection clarifies that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) serves a four-year term, regardless of retirement age or years of service.
So for Sahara Reporters to have said the senior officers assert that all “actions taken by the police chief (Egbetokun) since his official retirement date on September 4, 2024, are null and void” is complicating the worsening situations of the senior officers.
In a country that regards rules of law, someone like Omoyele Sowore should be in prison for working against the 1999 constitution (as amended).
The Nigerian Constitution states that it is supreme and that all authorities and individuals in the country must follow its provisions.
It is high time our security agencies, especially the Nigeria police, enforce the “Official Secrets Act.”
It is well known that civil servants are prohibited from disclosing any official information without authorisation, with severe disciplinary actions taken against those who breach this rule; essentially, any unauthorised disclosure of classified government documents is considered a serious offence and can lead to dismissal from service.
Danjuma Lamido is the Publicity Director of the Integrity Youth Alliance. Danjumalamido2011@gmail.comÂ
