Despite the Supreme Court judgment, which affirmed the power of the Police Service Commission (PSC) to recruit constables into the Nigeria Police Force, the commission and the police authorities may be heading for a fresh collision over the matter.
This followed the rejection of the list of successful candidates in the ongoing police constables’ recruitment by the police high command.
After four years of a fierce legal battle between the PSC and the Nigeria Police Force on who should be responsible for the recruitment of police constables, following the approval for the recruitment of 10,000 constables each year for six years by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the apex court had on July 11, 2023, resolved the issue in favour of the commission.
But citing alleged irregularities and corruption in the recruitment exercise, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Kayode Egbetokun, has rejected the list of successful candidates in the ongoing 2022/23 police constables’ recruitment conducted by the PSC.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), which acknowledged the power of the commission to recruit for the police as ruled by the Supreme Court, insisted that this power does not include the power to recruit unqualified personnel.
The statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, argued that the Supreme Court’s judgment did not give the PSC the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police.
The statement added that the rejection of the list followed a deluge of complaints from unsuccessful candidates and stakeholders over the disappearance of names of those who were screened and successful up to the final stage.
In the statement, Prince Adejobi stated that a scrutiny of the published list revealed several anomalies.
“Several names of persons purported to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not take part in the recruitment exercise,” he said.
Adejobi added that the list also contained names of candidates who had failed either the Computer Based Test (CBT) or the physical screening, as well as those disqualified after being found medically unfit.
“Most worrisome is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted,” he stated.
The police spokesman revealed that the IG, Egbetokun, had on June 10 written to the Chairman of the PSC objecting to the list and citing the irregularities discovered.
“The reaction of the IGP was without prejudice to the power of the commission to recruit for the police as ruled by the Supreme Court but this power does not include the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police,” Adejobi added.
He argued that it is the police that bear the brunt of the recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the PSC.
“The same people who recruited anyhow for the police today will turn round to accuse the police tomorrow of inefficiency when their recruits start messing up,” he added.
Adejobi disclosed that the police have dissociated themselves from the published list.
He called for a transparent and credible review of the process to recruit “qualified, competent, trainable and productive hands into the Nigeria Police Force, in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu-led administration on police reform.
The police spokesman further assured all that the police are committed to ensuring the process is thoroughly reviewed to be fruitful and successful for the betterment of the force and the country.
Chuks Okocha and Ikechukwu Aleke
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