The Nigeria Immigration Service’s Governing Board has served the acting Comptroller-General of the Service, Isah Idris, a retirement notice effective on or before April 24, 2023. In a secret memo, the board cited the expiration of the one-year extension of service granted by President Muhammadu Buhari, directing the CGI to hand over to the most senior Deputy Comptroller General.

The memo was signed by the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board Secretary, Obasi Edmond, on the orders of the Board chairman and Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola. The notice was titled “Notification of expiration of one-year extension in office as acting Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service.”

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Concerned Nigeria Immigration Stakeholders warned the President not to extend Idris’ tenure, claiming it could spark internal disputes that may snowball into full-blown protests by the service’s personnel.

They claimed to be aware of suspected moves by Idris to lobby for a tenure extension after his current term expires on April 24, 2023. Idris, who was Deputy Comptroller-General (Accounting), assumed duty as acting head of the service in September 2021 after the retirement of the former CGI, Muhammed Babandede.

Idris was due for retirement when he turned 60 on April 24, 2022, under the civil service rules, until Buhari extended his tenure by one year. In a letter dated April 22, 2022, and addressed to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, the President’s Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, announced that the tenure extension was with immediate effect.

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Idris’ name was first on a list dated December 6, 2021, which contained the names of 804 immigration officers due for retirement between January 1 and December 31, 2022.

The Board thanked Idris for his immense contributions to the Nigeria Immigration Service and wished him success in his future endeavors. The memo directs him to hand over to the most senior Deputy Comptroller-General on or before Monday, April 24, 2023, pending Mr President’s appointment of a substantive Comptroller-General of the Service.