Home News Alleged Wrongful Retirement: DIG Jitoboh Sues PSC, Demands N550m as Damages 

Alleged Wrongful Retirement: DIG Jitoboh Sues PSC, Demands N550m as Damages 

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A former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police in charge of ICT, and Research and Development, DIG Moses Jitoboh (Rtd) has dragged the Police Service Commission (PSC) to the National Industrial Court over his compulsory retirement even though he has not clocked the 60 years mandatory retirement age or reached 35 years in service.

Jitoboh, is also “praying the National Industrial Court to declare his retirement as as wrongful, unconstitutional, and unlawful”.

In his statement of claims, Jitoboh maintained that his purported compulsory retirement was done in breach of Rule 020810 of the Public Service Rules as well as Section 18 (8) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020.

He is therefore praying for an order of the National Industrial court “directing the PSC to pay the sum of ₦500million only as general damages for the unwarranted embarrassment caused by the purported termination of his employment as he had been portrayed to be a disloyal officer.”

The DIG also want the court to order “the payment of another sum of ₦50 million to him as the cost of prosecuting the ongoing action.

He is seeking a “declaration of the National Industrial Court that pursuant to Section 4 (3) of the Police Service Commission Act, 2001 the defendant (PSC) has no valid board to take any decision whatsoever purporting to retire or promote any police officer as the PSC Board tenure elapsed in July of 2023.

He insisted that “he remains an officer of the Nigeria Police Force until the 10th day of June, 2029 when he would have attained 35 years in service and duly retire, and that he is therefore entitled to his salaries, emoluments and all other paraphernalia of office due to him”.

The PSC, had in a statement on Monday, August 28, 2023, announced the compulsory retirement of DIG Jitoboh and three other DIGs on the grounds of upholding police tradition of retiring officers when a junior police officer is promoted over senior officers to avoid ‘status reversal’.

The Commission said the order became imperative because PSC had expected those DIGs who were seniors in rank prior to the Acting IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, to voluntarily retire.

According to the PSC, such expected application was in consonance with the revered tradition of discipline and regimented culture of the Nigeria Police Force.

“The Commission, having waited for ample time with no such application from any of them, took the decision to compulsorily retire them in order to uphold discipline which is the bedrock of the Force, and to discourage status reversal which is inherently inimical to the exercise of authority by the Inspector General”, the Commission declared.

 

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