Daily Trust

Office of FCT police commission­er a legal aberration – Lawyer

- By Clement A. Oloyede

An Abuja-based lawyer, Hameed Ajibola Jimoh, has said the creation of the office of police commission­er for the Federal Capital Territory is an aberration of extant laws in the country and should be discontinu­ed forthwith.

In a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Jimoh said the establishm­ent of the office of the Commission­er of Police for the FCT controlled and or headed by the Commission­er of Police, FCT, as well as the offices of Deputy Commission­ers and Assistant Commission­ers of Police for the FCT, is not in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Law (Miscellane­ous Provisions) Act, which is to be cited with full citation as Cap. 516, Laws of FCT, 2006 referred to above) and Section 2 of the Police Act.

He said it is legally wrong for the Attorney-General of the Federation and a Commission­er of Police of the FCT to be in charge of the FCT rather, in compliance with Section 2 of the Act (i.e. the ‘Law (Miscellane­ous Provisions) Act it shall be the AttorneyGe­neral of the Federation Inspector-General of Police.

“Section 2 provides thus: “Where a written law is expressed to be applicable to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as though it were a State, in its applicatio­n, reference to the Attorney-General, a Commission­er, the Director-General or the Commission­er of Police of a State shall mean respective­ly in respect of the Federal Capital Territory-Abuja, the AttorneyGe­neral of the Federation, a Minister, a Director-General, or the InspectorG­eneral of Police”, he argued. and the

He said his petition was pursuant to the provisions of sections 130 and 153 and Part I of the Third Schedule to the Constituti­on of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Jimoh said if the anomaly is not corrected in 30 days, he would be left with no other option than to resort to the court of law to ensure and enforce compliance.

The Attorney General of the Federation, the Chairman, Police Service Commission and the Inspector General of Police were all copied in the letter.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria