By Obinna Uballa
President Bola Tinubu has reportedly stopped a proposed mass retirement of about 30 Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs) and Assistant Inspectors General of Police (AIGs) following the removal of Kayode Egbetokun as Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the appointment of Tunji Disu as Acting IGP.
The New Diplomat had reported that a number of senior police officers, including Frank Mba, overseeing Training and Development; Adebola Hamzat, Head of Logistics and Supply; Yahaya S. Abubakar, DIG in charge of Finance and Administration; Adebowale Williams, supervising Information and Communication Technology; Sadiq Idris Abubakar, leading the Force Criminal Investigations Department, and Ben Nebolisa Okolo, heading the Force Intelligence Department, among others, could retire following Disu ‘s appointment, in line with the standard practice of the police force.
However, Tinubu has reportedly stepped in to halt their retirement, amid renewed controversy over the long-standing practice of compulsorily retiring senior officers whenever a junior officer is elevated to the position of IGP.
Sources said the President intervened to halt the planned retirements, citing the need for continuity and experience within the Force.
An internal list circulating within the Nigeria Police Force had reportedly identified at least eight DIGs for retirement in order to maintain command structure and prevent what is often referred to as “status reversal.”
Those said to have been pencilled down include DIG Yahaya Abubakar (Finance), DIG Adebola Hamzat (Logistics), DIG Adebowale Williams (ICT), and DIG Frank Mba (Training), among others.
A Presidency source disclosed that the directive to suspend the retirements was informed by the view that Acting IGP Disu would require the support and institutional knowledge of senior officers to stabilise the Force.
Disu’s appointment has also drawn attention because it comes barely two months before his scheduled retirement. Born on April 13, 1966, in Lagos State, Disu, with police serial number AP 41729, was promoted to Assistant Inspector-General on March 6, 2025, and is due to retire on April 13, 2026, upon attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60.
Although the amended Police Act grants an Inspector-General of Police a fixed four-year tenure regardless of age, sources suggest that Disu may not benefit from such an extension. Unlike his predecessor, Egbetokun, who enjoyed tenure protection under the amended law, there are indications that Disu may be required to exit the office upon reaching retirement age in April.
“The push now is to ensure that the acting IGP leaves in April as required by law,” a source said, adding that senior officers who had feared compulsory retirement have had their hopes revived after the Police Service Commission (PSC) was reportedly directed to suspend the process.
The controversy over forced retirements has deep legal roots. When Egbetokun was appointed in June 2023, the PSC compulsorily retired then-DIG Moses Ambakina Jitoboh, despite his being 54 years old and having several years left before reaching the statutory retirement threshold.
The PSC had justified its decision on the basis of a long-standing police tradition that mandates the retirement of senior officers when a junior officer is promoted above them to prevent disruptions in command hierarchy.
As narrated by human rights lawyer, Professor Chidi Odinkalu in a post on X on Wednesday, Jitoboh challenged the decision at the National Industrial Court in Abuja in Suit No: NICN/ABJ/274/2023, arguing that his removal was unlawful and contrary to statutory provisions governing public service.
In a landmark judgment delivered on January 13, 2025, Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae declared the compulsory retirement illegal, unconstitutional, and void. The court held that the PSC lacked the authority to truncate the career of an officer who had neither attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 nor completed 35 years of service.
The court further ruled that policy considerations such as “status reversal” had no force of law and could not override existing statutory provisions. It ordered that Jitoboh be recognised as a serving DIG until June 10, 2029, when he would have completed 35 years in service, and awarded N50 million in general damages for the embarrassment and stigma caused by the unlawful retirement, along with outstanding salaries and allowances and N750,000 in legal costs.
In a tragic twist, Jitoboh died on December 28, 2024, just weeks before the judgment was delivered.
The ruling has since cast a shadow over similar retirement exercises within the Force. Observers note that neither the PSC nor the Nigeria Police Force appealed the judgment, effectively allowing it to stand as a precedent.
