Kwara CP: APP asks court to stop Egbetokun’s appointment

The controversy over the appointment of Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, a former Chief Security Officer to former Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State as the Commissioner of Police in Kwara State has taken a legal dimension with a suit filed by Action Peoples Party (APP) challenging his appointment.

In a motion exparte before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/158/2019, the APP asked for an order of interim injunction restraining the Police Service Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the acting Inspector General of Police from deploying or transferring Kayode Egbetokun to Kwara State as commissioner of police, pending the determination and hearing of the motion on notice.

The suit filed by Obed Agu on behalf of the plaintiff further prayed for an order for abridgement of time within which the defendants may file their responses and accelerated heading.

The motion exparte which listed Kayode Egbetokun as a defendant was brought pursuant to Order 6 rule 5, Order 26 rules 7(2) and 8; Order 35 rules 1 & 2 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) rules, 2009; Section 6(6)(a) and (b) of the 1999 constitution.

In a six paragraphs supporting the affidavit, the deponent, Abigali Audu, averred that the underlying intention of the defendants in the deployment of Egbetokun to Kwara State as the commissioner of police “was to skew, rig or manipulate electoral process and results of the 2019 general elections in favour of their preferred candidates of the ruling party.

Audu further deposed that “recently, the Police Service Commission, the Nigeria Police and the acting Inspector General of Police, had illegally appointed the 4th defendant ( Kayode Egbetokun) who was one time Chief Security Officer (CSO) to one Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the commissioner of police for Kwara State.

The deponent further averred that “during the 4th defendant as the CSO to the said Ahmed Bola Tinubu, one Lai Mohammed, also from Kwara State, who is now the Minister of Information was also the Chief of Staff to the said Ahmed Bola Tinubu in Lagos State.

“That the said Ahmed Bola Tinubu working in concert with Lai Mohammed, who is from Kwara State are hell bent on manipulating the electoral process in Kwara State, had colluded with the defendants to deploy Egbetokun to Kwara State as the commissioner of police for the purposes of rigging and /or manipulating the electoral process or results of the 2019 general elections in favour of their particular political party as well as intimidating perceived opponents of their party.

“That the deployment has created uneasy tension as it did not follow the due process of law but was made in utter breach of the powers of the defendants.”