Falana drew the attention of Mr. Suleiman to a
litany of partisan activities and his repressive
conducts against the law, order and human rights since his appointment in an acting capacity as Nigeria’s Inspector general of police.

Mr. Suleiman once acted as a bodyguard to the
wife of former dictator, Mrs, Maryam Abacha. He
is also known to be a crony of the current first
lady, Patience Jonathan.

Below is the full text of Mr. Falana’s letter:

Suleiman Abba Esq.

Acting Inspector-General of Police,

Police Headquarters,

Louis Edet House,

Abuja, FCT.

Since you were appointed the Acting Inspector-
General of Police by the President of the
Republic on July 31, 2014 the Nigeria Police
Force has been involved in partisan politics to
the detriment of law and order in the country.
Permit me to draw your attention to three
glaring cases of political bias recently displayed
by the Police under your leadership.

Firstly, the Osun State governorship election
which took place on August 9, 2014 was almost
marred by the Police and other security forces
which arrested and detained over 700 leaders
of the All Progressive Congress (APC). Indeed,
some electoral officers who were assumed to
be members of the APC were also railroaded
to police custody. But for the personal
intervention of Professor Attahiru Jega, the
Chairman of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, the said electoral
officers would not have been released. Thus,
the election would have been disrupted by the
police and other security forces whose duty it
was to maintain law and order during the
democratic exercise. However, the detained
APC leaders who were released after the
election have not been charged to court for
breaching the provisions of the Electoral Act or
any other law whatsoever.

Secondly, Mr. Joseph Mbu, the controversial
Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge
of Zone 7 of the Nigeria Poilice Force
announced a ban any rally demanding for
#bringbackourgirls within the federal capital
territory. The ban was designed to assuage the
feelings of some officials of the Federal
Government who are embarrassed by being
reminded of their constitutional duty of
rescuing the over 200 Chibok girls who were
abducted 6 months ago by the nihilist boko
haram sect. In a judgment delivered last week,
the Federal Capital Territory High Court
declared the ban illegal, null and void on the
ground that it constituted an infringement of
the fundamental rights of the patriotic
campaigners to freedom of assembly and
expression guaranteed by the Constitution. In
spite of the judicial indictment you have not
deemed it fit to call Mr. Mbu to order for the
reckless abuse of police powers.

Thirdly, you caused the security details of
Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives to be withdrawn
last week on the ground that he had decamped
from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
the APC. As if that was enough, you decided to
usurp the judicial powers of the federation
which are exclusively vested in the courts by
section 6 of the Constitution when you claimed
that the Speaker had lost his office and seat as
a federal legislator having contravened section
68 (1) (g) of the Constitution. By your illegal
pronouncement you disregarded section
section 50 (2) (c) thereof which stipulates that
the Speaker of the House of Representatives
can only be removed by a resolution passed
by votes on not less that two thirds majority of
the members of the House.

No doubt, your actions and utterances in the
circumstance have exposed the Police to
unwarranted ridicule as Nigerians are not
unaware of the fact that when the Ondo State
legislators elected on the platform of the
Labour Party (LP) decamped to the PDP last
month your office did not declare their seats
vacant. In particular, you did not withdraw the
security details of Honourable Jumoke
Akindele, the Speaker who led her colleagues
to dump the LP for the PDP. In the same vein,
Honourable Ahmadu Fintiri, the Speaker of the
Adamawa State House of Assembly and his
colleagues who decamped from the PDP to the
APC and have since returned to PDP. You did
not have cause to declare their seats vacant.
Neither have you withdrawn the security
details of the Honourable Fintiri.

Thus, by subjecting Honourable Aminu
Tambuwal to selective persecution on ground
that he decamped from the ruling party you
violated his fundamental right to freedom
from discrimination. As you are no doubt
aware, it is a breach of section 42 (1) of the
Constitution and Article 2 of the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights to
subject any citizen of Nigeria of a political
opinion to disabilities, deprivation and
restrictions to which other citizens who hold
alternative views or opinions are not made
subject. Since the security details of other
Speakers who decamped from the APC and LP
to the PDP have not been withdrawn those of
Honourable Tambuwal were illegally
withdrawn. They ought to be restored without
any further delay.

From the information at my disposal your
harassment of the Speaker was instigated by
the Presidency. But having regard to section
215 (3) of the Constitution which enjoins you
to carry out the "lawful directions" of the
President of the Republic with respect to the
maintenance and securing of public safety and
public order the actions taken on the Speaker
are illegal and unconstitutional in every
material particular. Therefore, you should
withdraw your pronouncement on the office
and seat of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal and
advise the ruling party to seek redress in the
Federal High Court on the constitutional
implications of the defection. Furthermore,
unless he is removed by his colleagues in the
House of Representatives or by a competent
court in the land Honourable Tambuwal
remains the Speaker of the House. Neither the
Police nor any other agency of the Federal
Government can be allowed to resort to self
help on the matter.

As law and order in the country cannot be
maintained by a compromised Police
institution you may want to resign your
appointment if you are not prepared to
discharge your onerous constitutional
responsibilities without fear or favour,
affection or ill-will. Before making up your
mind may I remind you of the eternal
injunction of the Supreme Court in the case of
Attorney-General of the Federation v Atiku
Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (pt 1041) 1 at 183. As
the undisguised bias of both the INEC and the
Police could not be justified over the illegal
removal of the Vice-President for decamping
from the ruling party to one of the opposition
political parties the apex court held inter alia:
"Having regard to the nature of the function
which the Nigeria Police Force also performs,
that body must also insulate itself such that
impartiality and fairness may at all times be
ascribed to it. A situation where both of them
( the Inspector-General of Police and the
Independent National Electoral Commission
INEC) appeal in the instant case is very much in
bad taste.They have both thrown the quality of
impartiality and fairness which they must
possess to the winds. Their acts capable of
eroding the public confidence in them.
Unknown tob them, they may be said, by
the the public, to be biased and therefore not
worthy to be regarded as impartial umpires.

This trend must not repeat itself for the good
of the nation."
Finally, if the trend of subverting the
Constitution, the Police Act and the Electoral
Act by your good self and other top police
offices continues unabated we shall not
hesitate to approach the Federal High Court to
determine your competence and suitability to
superintend and manage the Nigeria Police
Force in the public interest.

Yours Sincerely,


Femi Falana SAN

Source: saharareporters.com/2014/11/02/illegal-policing-republic-falana-writes-ig-police

so?

Mr falana you better stop wasting your ink this rebellious called abba will not listen to your voice he had been comprised I wonder how he allow Jonathan to manipulate him Jonathan that prision,await