Agbakoba, SANs, Others Want IGP Sacked

Following the drama that took place at the National Assembly on Thursday, November 20, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, including Olisa Agbakoba, Yusuf Ali and Niyi Akintola, have called for the removal of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba.

The call was made over the IGP’s refusal to acknowledge Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Punch reports.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on its own part, in a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, alleged that Abba had shown that he was ‘partisan’ and would not be able to ensure a free and fair election in 2015.

“Abba is presiding over perhaps the most-partisan police force ever in the history of our nation. He has thrown professionalism, neutrality and fairness to the winds and made the police a willing tool in the hands of a frenzied executive. He cannot be trusted to ensure a level-playing field for all parties at the next general elections, hence he should be removed immediately,” the APC said.


Meanwhile, Akintola (SAN), in his remark noted that Abba was wrong to have said he did not recognise Tambuwal as the Speaker, on the excuse that the matter was in court.

“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,” Akintola said.

The SAN, however, cleared the air 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,” he said.

Reacting also on the issue, Yusuf Ali, (SAN), stated that although both the Nigeria Police and the IG were supposed to be isolated 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 yesterday was arrant insubordination,” Ali said.
Agbakoba on his part posited that Abba was wrong because the court had not yet made any pronouncement on the question of the Speaker’s resignation, adding that until such pronouncement would be made Tambuwal is still entitled to be addressed as the Speaker.

“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,” Agbakoba said.

Meanwhile, members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, has also condemned the actions of the IGP, describing it as a clear invitation to anarchy. The body pointed out that the continued belittling of the legislature was dangerous because it was the most important symbol of democracy.

This was made known by the Acting National President of PASAN, Mr. Mohammed Bala at press briefing on Thursday in Abuja. He called for a constitutionally empowered Sergeant-At-Arms, who would be solely responsible for the security of the legislature.

It would be recalled that shortly after the disgraceful incident, the police spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the police acted the way it did because it got intelligence report that ‘’hoodlums and thugs’’ were coming to invade the House.