The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday engaged in a heated public dispute over the planned resumption of nationwide enforcement of the tinted-glass permit policy from January 2, 2026.
While the NBA accused the police high command of executive recklessness and disregard for the rule of law, the police insisted that no court had ever restrained the Force from enforcing the policy and that the earlier suspension was purely administrative.
The disagreement followed a statement issued on Monday by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, announcing the reactivation of the suspended enforcement. The policy had been put on hold in October after the NBA, through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the legality of the enforcement.
Reacting, NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, said the police action amounted to a grave affront to the judiciary and the rule of law. He alleged that proceeds from the tinted-glass permit were being paid into a private bank account rather than the Treasury Single Account, raising concerns of transparency and possible corruption.
Osigwe argued that the policy would worsen Nigeria’s multiple taxation burden, undermine the country’s tax reforms scheduled to take effect in January 2026, and unlawfully nullify already issued permits without any legal basis for renewal.
He further disclosed that court processes had been duly served on the Inspector-General of Police, who briefed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to represent the Force. He also cited an order issued on October 3, 2025, by the Federal High Court, Warri Division, directing parties to maintain the status quo in a related suit, which he said effectively restrained enforcement pending the determination of an interlocutory application.
However, the police swiftly rejected the NBA’s claims. Addressing journalists at the IRT headquarters in Abuja, CSP Hundeyin maintained that no court order barred the Force from enforcing the tinted-glass permit policy.
According to him, the court order referenced by the NBA directed parties to maintain the status quo at a time when enforcement was already ongoing, not suspended. He explained that the suspension announced by the police in October was not based on any judicial directive but on the Force’s decision to exercise restraint after consultations with the NBA.
Hundeyin added that the absence of enforcement had worsened criminal activities nationwide, stressing that the police would continue enforcement until a clear court pronouncement directed otherwise.
The renewed enforcement plan has now set the stage for a legal and institutional showdown between the NBA and the police as January 2026 approaches.
