The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has launched a scathing attack on the Nigeria Police Force, condemning its announced resumption of the controversial tinted glass permit enforcement as a “grave affront to the majesty of the court” and an act of “executive recklessness.”
This sharp rebuke sets the stage for a significant legal showdown between the nation’s premier legal body and its law enforcement agency.
In a strongly-worded statement, the NBA asserts that the police’s move to proceed with the policy “once again confirms the sad reality that the Nigeria Police Force continues to exhibit a troubling disregard for the rule of law.”
The Association portrays the announcement as direct evidence that the police leadership lacks respect for the judiciary and the legal due process it is constitutionally mandated to uphold.
The tinted glass permit policy, first introduced by the Inspector General of Police in April 2025, requires motorists to obtain annual permits through a dedicated online portal. Its enforcement has been a point of major public contention. Following widespread outcry and numerous reports of harassment and extortion by officers, the initial enforcement date was postponed from June 1 to October 2, 2025.The legal battle was formally ignited on September 2, 2025, when the NBA’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL) filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The lawsuit, Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association v. Inspector General of Police & Anor, fundamentally challenges the police’s legal authority to impose such a levy on citizens.The NBA’s lawsuit contends that the policy is “unconstitutional, obnoxious, illegal, extortionate, and a threat to citizens’ rights and economic well-being.” Central to their argument is the accusation that the policy represents a “brazen revenue-generating drive” by an agency not legally authorized to create or collect such revenues.Beyond the constitutional question, the NBA warns that enforcing the policy will inevitably “initiate disorder and extortion,” citing the police’s “long and sordid history” of misconduct at checkpoints.
The Association references a documented pattern of behavior including systematic bribery, harassment of young citizens, intimidation, and extra-judicial killings, framing the permit system as a new tool for the same old abuses.With the police setting a new enforcement date of January 2, 2026, the stage is now set for a major legal and political confrontation.
The NBA has positioned itself as the primary institutional defender of citizens’ rights against what it deems an unlawful and oppressive policy. This clash transcends the issue of car window tints, touching on deeper issues of governance, police accountability, and the limits of executive power in a democratic society.
