FLASHBACK: How 'Illegal' Inspector-General Of Police Egbetokun Allegedly Mismanaged Police Training School Lagos As Commandant In 2016

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, whom many activists have described as illegally occupying office for failing to retire from the police service, has a history of controversies, including when he served as Commandant at the Police Training School in Ikeja, Lagos State in 2016. 

The current controversy is over Egbetokun’s tenure and it follows growing concerns about leadership transitions within Nigeria’s security forces. 

Critics have argued that tenure extensions for top officers create unfair career stagnation for others in the system and violate established protocols.

Meanwhile, it will be recalled that an investigation by SaharaReporters in 2016 uncovered extensive illicit programmes and financial deals at the Police Training School (PTS) in Ikeja, Lagos. 

Overseen by the Commandant, Egbetokun, then as an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), the training school allegedly engaged in improperly documented activities that bring a financial windfall to a few officers. 

Mandated to train civilians as complementary law enforcement officers in Nigeria, the PTS runs two major programmes, the recruit course and the refresher course. 

The recruit course is an entry training level training while the refresher course is the promotional training for graduates who had gone through the recruit course and want to attain the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP). 

Civilians who complete the training are tagged Supernumerary Police Officers (SPY), and they are often employed by private individuals or organisations as security guards or drivers.

In 2015, Mr. Egbetokun, who once served as the Chief Security Officer to former Governor Bola Tinubu, became the school’s commandant. 

SaharaReporters' investigation had showed that, since assuming command of the school, Egbetokun had instituted and completed eight batches of recruit courses and three batches of refresher course without approval from the police headquarters in Abuja. 

Consequently, at least 440 trainees had graduated from the refresher course without receiving decoration. This is because the trainees’ batches were never approved hence their names were not sent to the headquarters for authorisation to decorate them.

It was learned that an unapproved batch of two hundred students was currently running the refresher course. Several sources, including police officers and trainees, told our investigator that the students had been compelled to pay an extra N20,000 each. The sources said this extra charge would be used to lobby officers at the police headquarters in Abuja to authorise the decoration of the trainees. 

Some of our sources questioned how Egbetokun would get the approval to decorate the students when he did not get authorisation to run the course in the first instance.

A source told SaharaReporters that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, upon his appointment, informed Egbetokun that he would no longer approve the PTS’s recruit course. 

Despite this warning, Egbetokun continued to roll out batches from the recruit course without approval.

“Many of the students have been coming to school to know when they will be decorated, but they are always told to remain patient,” one police source disclosed. 

In order to undergo the recruit course, each trainee pays N100,000 as registration fee and forty-eight thousand naira for training kits. 

Also, each student enrolled in the refresher course pays one hundred and thirty-six thousand naira as registration fee and forty-eight thousand naira for kits. Often, the trainees’ employers pay the cost of training. 

It was learned that police headquarters, Abuja had fixed a registration fee of one hundred and twenty-six thousand naira for the refresher course, out of which PTS is supposed to deduct the running cost for the course and remit the balance. 

However, the investigation had revealed that the training school consistently charged above the stipulated fee.

Two senior police sources in Lagos and Abuja told SaharaReporters that commandant Egbetokun had not remitted a single naira for the twelve batches of recruit and refresher courses he had ran. 

At the time of filing this report, SaharaReporters had not confirmed the number of people who had gone through the recruit course. 

However, the investigation showed that more than N150million had been realised from registration fee and training kits for refresher trainees. 

The sources said all that money remained unaccounted for.

Shortly after coming to office, former President Muhammadu Buhari mandated the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), a policy that requires all government bodies and parastatals to deposit revenues at one Central Bank account.

But the investigation revealed that PTS had been flagrantly violating the TSA policy. The fees charged by the school are paid into the NFA Micro Finance Bank Plc., a police community bank. One Mr. Dada Idowu, a traffic warden, and Egbetokun had acted as the signatories to the account. 

Several sources identified Idowu as a key member of an insider group used by Commandant Egbetokun to perpetuate his illicit financial activities. 

Companies that enlist their employees for the training programme are directed to pay into the microfinance bank while individuals are made to pay to the officer who recommended them for the training. The officers in turn remit the payment to Mr. Idowu. 

SaharaReporters also learnt that Mr. Idowu plays a role in the procurement of the training kits. “He is the person who supplies the school with the training kit and the ceremonial wears given to the students at the completion of their program,” one source had said.

SaharaReporters reported on March 11, 2025, that human rights activist and #RevolutionNow Movement convener, Omoyele Sowore, called for the immediate resignation of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.

Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) who has consistently slammed Egbetokun for his continued stay in office illegally, condemned the IGP for "refusing to retire while all his mates left office on March 3, 2025".

In a statement posted on social media, Sowore described Egbetokun as the “Illegal General of the Nigeria Police Force,” criticising his refusal to retire despite his peers having exited the force on March 3, 2025. 

Sowore had argued that the police leadership must allow for a fair succession process, ensuring that other officers have the opportunity to rise to the top.

“This ILLEGAL IG of @PoliceNG (a.k.a Illegal General of the Nigeria Police Force) has refused to retire while all his mates left on March 3rd, 2025. 

“He is here ‘presiding’ over a ‘new management’ of the Nigeria Police Force. This has to end; other policemen must get a fair chance to rise to the top as well,” Sowore stated.

In June 2023, Egbetokun was appointed as Nigeria's Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the age of 59, with a four-year tenure.

According to the Public Service Rule 020810, civil servants are mandated to retire upon reaching 60 years of age or after 35 years of service, whichever comes first. This rule was reinforced by the Police Act of 2020, which stipulates the same retirement criteria for police officers, including the IGP. Consequently, Egbetokun was scheduled to retire on September 4, 2024, upon turning 60.

However, the National Assembly, prompted by President Bola Tinubu, swiftly amended the Police Act in July 2024. The amendment introduced a new subsection, 18(8A), allowing the IGP to serve the full term specified in their appointment letter, irrespective of age or years of service. This legislative change effectively extended Egbetokun's tenure beyond the traditional retirement age, enabling him to complete his four-year term.

This amendment sparked controversy and dissent within the police force and among civil society organisations. Critics argued that the change undermined established public service rules and could set a precedent for favoritism and nepotism.

Senior police officers expressed concerns that such exceptions could demoralise the force and erode confidence in the system. Some viewed the amendment as tailored specifically for Egbetokun, raising questions about its fairness and potential implications for the future of the police force.