Nigeria’s opposition party, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has called for the immediate resignation of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Tijani Fatai, after he was allegedly seen attending an event organised by the City Boy Movement, a political group that supports President Bola Tinubu.
The controversy followed the circulation of a video on social media which appeared to show Mr Fatai arriving at the inauguration of the Lagos State executive committee of the group. The footage has raised questions about the political neutrality of the police ahead of Nigeria’s next general election.
In a statement, the NDC strongly criticised the commissioner’s alleged presence at the event.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the appearance of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani, at a partisan event promoting a particular candidate in the upcoming general election,” the party said.
The party argued that the police are expected to remain politically neutral and warned that such an appearance could weaken public trust in the electoral process.
“Seeing a Commissioner of Police at a partisan event can only point to one thing: he will be biased in the discharge of his duties during the elections,” the statement added.
The NDC called on the Nigeria Police Force to suspend and sanction the commissioner, while also demanding his resignation.
It further urged the police leadership to reassure Nigerians that officers would remain impartial during the elections and provide equal protection to voters and supporters of all political parties, regardless of their political affiliation, ethnicity or religion.
“We therefore demand that the Nigeria Police authorities immediately suspend and sanction the Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani,” the party said.
As of the time of publication, the Lagos State Police Command had not responded to the allegations or issued an official statement on the matter.
The incident comes as political activities intensify ahead of the general election, with increasing scrutiny of the role of security agencies in ensuring free, fair and credible polls.
