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Odumakin, Adegboruwa sue police, others over police recruitment

By Joseph Onyekwere
26 November 2016   |   1:26 am
Spokespersons of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Yinka Odumakin, and human rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, have filed an action before the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to stop....
Mr. Yinka Odumakin

Mr. Yinka Odumakin

Spokespersons of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Yinka Odumakin, and human rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, have filed an action before the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to stop the proposed recruitment of 10,000 personnel into the Nigeria Police through local government quota.

Respondents in the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1602/2016, are the Nigeria Police Force, Inspector General of Police, the Nigerian Police Council, National Assembly, Senate, House of Representatives, Minister of Police Affairs and the AttornGuardian Fileserver 1A:6Saturday:Text:Odumakin 26-11-16.docey General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The plaintiffs are asking the court for a declaration that the 4th respondent is the only constitutionally established body in Nigeria saddled with the responsibility and entitled by the constitution to recruit and appoint persons into the Nigeria Police Force in accordance with Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution and Paragraph 30 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.

Among others, they want a declaration that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th respondents are not entitled by law to recruit and appoint any personnel into the Police or to give any directive on such recruitment and any such directive given is unconstitutional, ultra vires, null, void and illegal.

The plaintiffs also prayed the court to order the suspension of the recruitment by the 5th, 6th and 7th respondents as a result of the simmering conflict with the 4th respondent, which constitutes a flagrant violation of Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution and Paragraph 30 of the Third Schedule of the Constitution and is to that extent unconstitutional, null and void.

They also wants the court to direct the respondents to follow the laid down regulation as required by law and constitutional provision of equality of states, in line with the principle of federal character in the recruitment of personnel into the Police, with states as the basis as guaranteed under Section 14.

In a supporting affidavit, Adegboruwa stated that it was wrong for the National Assembly and IGP to seek to take over the statutory roles of the Nigeria Police Council and that any recruitment based on local government quota will create inequality across the nation, as that will be contrary to section 14 of the 1999 Constitution relating to the federal character principle.

Adegboruwa stated further that under paragraph 30 of the third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, it is the Police Council that has the statutory power of recruitment, promotion and discipline of all policemen and women, and not the IGP or indeed the National Assembly.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the cases.

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