Lawyers have condemned the serial snub of an invitation by the Senate, Nigeria\’s highest law making organ by the Inspector General of Police, IGP.
One of them, Mr Ola Adeosun, even alleged that the police chief had the audacity to snub the Senate repeatedly because he had the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He, however, pointed out that the only option left for the Senate still is to report the matter formally to the President.
“If it were someone else, the normal thing to do is to ask the IGP to arrest such person, but now that it’s the IGP, it is so unfortunate but the only other option they have is to report to his superior, who is the sitting President.
“For him to be able to snub the Senate three times, he must have gotten assurances from the man he reports to, who is the President.
“The Senate does not have any other compelling power over the IGP.
“It is now left for the President to show to the world whether he’s morally upright or not.”
Another lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, also agrees with Mr Adeosun describing Idris’ action as threat to democracy.
“By virtue of section 88 of the Constitution, the Senate has the constitutional power to summon anybody in Nigeria including the Pesident. The only exception is that they cannot compel that person.
“Also, the IG is subject to the Senate’s summon. He does not have the right to deliberate it.
“In section 89, the Senate now has the power to issue a warrant of arrest to anyone that fails to adhere to their summon. But in this case, you can’t issue a warrant to the IG, can the IG arrest himself, or who will arrest him?
“What the IG has done is a threat to democracy and an attempt to ridicule our democracy.
“The Senate cannot do anything now, constitutionally. Except they want to go outside the constitution and punish him.”
