Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, AbdulKarim Maude has described the police command’s decision to boycott the Independence Day parade as a security risk that unnecessarily heightened tension in the state.
Maude, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, specifically accused the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori of undermining the statutory powers vested in Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf as the state’s Chief Security Officer.
Yusuf had earlier passed a vote of no confidence in Bakori, calling for his immediate removal following the withdrawal of police officers from the Independence Day parade last Thursday at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.
Maude said that the state Commissioner of Police had breached the statutory powers and authority of the governor, thereby exposing him to a security threat.
He noted that Bakori’s withdrawal of police personnel and neglect of the governor during the parade on the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) reflected ‘fractured accountability in security governance’.
He argued that Bakori failed to uphold the dual accountability expected between the governor and the IGP during the Independence Day event, describing his conduct as ‘flagrant insubordination’.
While citing Section 214(4) of the Constitution, which establishes the Nigeria Police Force as a single centralized institution under the IGP, Maude also referenced Section 215, which empowers the governor to issue lawful directives to the Commissioner of Police for the maintenance of public safety and order within the state.
“The CP stands at the intersection of dual accountability to both the IGP and the governor. However, this dual structure has led to conflict in the case of the national day parade, where the CP’s absence resulted in accusations of sabotage and unethical conduct from the governor.
‘This incident highlights the ongoing constitutional debate surrounding the CP’s accountability and its implications for governance, security, and federal balance in Nigeria.
‘By failing to comply with the Governor’s directive and without invoking the constitutional mechanism of referral to the President, the Commissioner of Police arguably breached the constitutional balance contemplated under Sections 214 and 215, thereby validating Governor Yusuf’s protest and his demand for the CP’s removal’, the Attorney General stated.
