IGP Can Serve Beyond 60 Under Police Act, Expert Says.

A security expert and public analyst, Busayo Mogaji, has stated that legal provisions—not age or retirement benchmarks—determine how long an Inspector-General of Police can serve, stressing that extending the tenure of the current IGP beyond 60 years is within the law.

Mogaji stated this in a statement on Sunday while addressing the controversy surrounding the expected retirement of the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, in April 2026. According to him, the debate was unnecessary because the law clearly provides a fixed tenure for the office.

He explained that the Nigeria Police Act 2020 established a four-year tenure for the Inspector-General of Police to ensure stability, leadership continuity and the effective implementation of reforms within the Nigeria Police Force.

Mogaji noted that claims suggesting the IGP must retire upon attaining the age of 60 reflect a misunderstanding of the statutory provisions guiding the office. He emphasised that the law was designed to insulate the leadership of the police from uncertainties associated with conventional public service retirement rules.

The analyst therefore urged stakeholders and the public to rely on the legal framework when discussing police leadership, noting that the Police Act Amendment 2024 allows an IGP to remain in office regardless of attaining 60 years of age or completing 35 years of service, a provision earlier applied during the tenure debate involving former IGP Kayode Egbetokun and approved by President Bola Tinubu.