Insult on Tambuwal: Senior advocates of Nigeria seek IGP sack

Some top Senior Advocates of Nigeria, including Olisa Agbakoba, Yusuf Ali, Niyi Akintola and the All Progressives Congress (APC), have called for the sack of the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, over his refusal to acknowledge Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Reps.

The APC in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said by refusing to give due recognition to Tambuwal who was duly elected by the 360 members of the House of Reps, the police boss had “thumbed his nose at the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

In his own reaction, Akintola (SAN), said the IG erred by saying that it was wrong to recognise Tambuwal as the Speaker, on the excuse that the matter was in court.

He said, “The IG cannot turn himself into a court of justice to be interpreting the law. It is left for the court to interpret it one way or the other; it is not open to anybody. I think the attitude of the IG calls for concerted effort of all Nigerians to put him in check. The impunity and the derogatory remarks of the IG, if allowed to go unchecked, he will extend it to the President of the Senate, he will extend it to the CJN and he will even extend it to the Vice President...

“So to me, it is not even Tambuwal that is affected and it is very unfortunate because I would have expected that by now members of the National Assembly should have relieved him of that position. The IG is simply not mature enough to lead an organisation like the Police. All Nigerians should rise up against the impunity of this man called Abba.”

He added that the issue was not about Tambuwal but about democracy.

“And I am of the opinion that members of the National Assembly should rise up to the occasion and the man should be sacked, anything short of that, they should all go back to their respective homes until the man resigns,” Akintola added.

Also, Yusuf Ali, (SAN), said though both the Nigeria Police and the IG were supposed to be insulated from politics, Abba had demonstrated beyond any doubt that he was partisan.

“For whoever is the occupant of that office to be partisan, it is dangerous for our democracy. And that is part of the problems that we have in this country, we don’t have institutions. We only have government departments and loyalists, not to Nigerians but to individuals in government.

“It is quite unfortunate that the number one police officer in this country took it upon himself to assume the position of the court of law that pronounces the seat of the Speaker vacant and it is even more disappointing and pathetic that he is a lawyer, who is expected to know better.

“What happened [the IG's action] was arrant insubordination,” Ali said.

For Agbakoba (SAN), “The IG was also wrong to have caused the raid of the National Assembly, so I think altogether, the IG has been acting as if he is politically-motivated and it is very dangerous. The IG was wrong to say he could not recognise the Speaker because the matter is in court.”