A retirement standoff is brewing within the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as six senior police officers, accused of age falsification and circumventing service regulations, are demanding that Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun step down alongside them.
Naijaonpoint reports that the officers—Idowu Owohunwa, Simon Lough (SAN), Benneth Igweh, Aina Emmanuel, Salama Wakili Abdul, and Adepoju Olugbenga—have refused to retire, insisting that Egbetokun, who has also exceeded his official retirement age, must exit simultaneously.
Egbetokun had ordered the six officers, all of whom are either over 60 years old or have served for more than 35 years, to appear before a disciplinary committee at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, between Monday, February 10, and Thursday, February 13, 2025.
Reports indicate that the Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC) may either demote or dismiss the officers.
However, sources within the police reveal to SaharaReporters that the officers are challenging the legality of Egbetokun’s directives, claiming that all decisions made by him since his official retirement date of September 4, 2024, are null and void.
“They are insisting that if he must retire them, he must also retire himself, as he has also surpassed the retirement limit but remains in office due to the intervention of the President and the National Assembly,” a police source disclosed.
“They also said that every action taken by Egbetokun since last September 4, his official retirement date, is illegal, including, but not limited to, the issuance of retirement letters to them, which they have refused to honour.”
In a further twist, the officers have seized upon the directive to appear in their working dress, arguing that this is an official admission that they are still in active service.
“If he ordered them to report in uniform for disciplinary action after they have supposedly retired, then it means they are still in service,” another source stated.
The retirement controversy extends beyond these six officers, with nearly 500 police officers implicated in age forgery and service regulation violations.
While some officers have chosen to retire quietly, others have taken legal action, filing cases at the National Industrial Court.
Sources say the IGP’s legal team has assured some officers that they would not be forced into retirement.
On February 5, 2025, IGP Egbetokun issued a directive for the immediate retirement of officers who had exceeded 35 years of service or turned 60 years old. The decision was backed by the Police Service Commission (PSC) in a January 31, 2025 ruling.