Senate passes bill introducing single 4-year term for Police IG

The Senate, on Tuesday, passed a bill introducing a tenure to the office of the Inspector-General of Police.

The “Police Act CAP P19 LFN 2004 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2020” states that the tenure of the office of the police boss should be a single 4-year term.

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It states that the tenure was introduced to give stability to the office of the Inspector-General of Police.

The proposed legislation also states that the appointment and removal from office of the Police boss is now based on the advice of the Police Council.

The passage followed consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, chaired by Senator Dauda Haliru Jika (Bauchi Central).

The report recommended that it should be made binding on the lnspector-General of Police to adhere to policing plans.

“The national policing plan should be made with inputs from the Police Force Headquarters and all the various Police formations nationwide before the end of each financial year, setting out priorities, objectives, cost implications and expected outcomes of Policing for the next succeeding financial year in order to change budgeting from a top-down approach to a bottom-up approach,” it said.

It also recommended that the Police should “abide and enforce certain constitutional provisions, particularly fundamental rights of persons in Police custody under chapter 4 of the l999 constitution (as amended) and other international instruments on Human rights to which Nigeria is a signatory.”