By Danjuma Lamido
On 7th April 2025, Omoyele Sowore, in Abuja with protesters of the Take It Back Movement and members of the RevolutionNow Movement, called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP Egbetokun, to go, insisting that his tenure had expired.
Sowore, who coordinated the protests, used his social media handles to send out messages with a series of tweets.
Gone are the days when Omoyele Sowore used to pull a crowd at any protest or gathering. Professionals from various fields, such as media, banking, and academia, are consistently present whenever Sowore initiates a protest against the federal government.
They withdrew from his protests after realising that most of them were used to get money from foreign donors.
As educated Omoyele Sowore seems to claim, his activities are nothing less than those of a lowbrow.
On July 23, 2024, the National Assembly passed the Police Act Amendment Bill to enable a person appointed to the office of Inspector General of Police to remain in office until the end of the term stipulated in the letter of appointment.
President Bola Tinubu forwarded the bill to the House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday to amend the tenure of the IGP.
The Bill for an Act to amend the Nigeria Police Act 2020 sought to guarantee the tenure of the IGP and revolutionise police operations by enhancing accountability, modernising policing methods, and fostering a more harmonious relationship between the police and the community.
The bill expeditiously scaled second and third readings on Tuesday and was passed by lawmakers in both the green and red chambers. The upper and lower chambers passed the bill at separate sittings.
On January 30, 2025, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said that the continuous stay in office of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, is legal and lawful.
The AGF said that before his retirement age, the Police Act was amended to allow the occupant of the office to remain and complete the original four-year term granted under Section 7(6) of the Act, although he has attained the age of 60 years.
This has, therefore, statutorily extended the tenure of office of Egbetokun to and including the 31st day of October 2027 to complete the four-year tenure granted to him.
For the avoidance of doubt, Egbetokun’s continuous stay in office is in line with the provisions of the Police Act amended in 2024, which allows the occupant of the office to enjoy a term of four years effective from the date of his appointment as IGP, in this case, the 31st day of October 2023.
Unfortunately, the unprincipled Omoyele Sowore and his gullible followers continue to refer to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, as “illegal IGP.”
On 29 Jan 2025, the Nigeria police charged Omoyele with cybercrimes at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The charges centre around Sowore’s description of Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP” in a video clip Sowore shared on social media.
Sowore knew that the description of IGP Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP” was false but knowingly claimed it to cause a breakdown of law and order.
Sowore’s act constituted an offence contrary to section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended (2024), and punishable under section 24(2)(c)(ii) of the same Act.
The ignoble Omoyele Sowore should have gone to court to challenge the tenure of the IGP if he was sure of his mischievous attention-seeking strategies but rather decided to recruit miscreants and credulous followers on social media to keep calling the Inspector General of Police “illegal IGP.”
It is high time the Federal Government, especially the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, sued Omoyele Sowore and his cohorts for threats to incite Nigerians against the Nigeria Police Force and harm the property or reputation of the Inspector General of Police or the Nigeria Police Force.
Danjuma Lamido is the publicity director of the Integrity Youth Alliance. danjumalamido2011@gmail.com
