IGP Egbetokun Accuses PSC Of Bribery In Police Constables Recruitment

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun has accused the Police Service Commission, PSC, of recruiting unqualified and untrained constables to the force.

The IGP made the remark in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, on Saturday.

The nation’s police boss spoke following the sack of Solomon Arase as PSC boss by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Tinubu has since replaced with Hashimu Argungu, a retired Deputy Inspsector General of Police, DIG.

It’s widely suggested that Arase, a former IGP was sacked one year into his five-year tenure as PSC Chairman, by the president due issue bordering on corruption, one of which was the recruitment of constable into the NPF.

Arase was appointed by the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari.

Egbetokun said the recent recruitment of constables into the Force was riddled with serious anomaly, calling for a more transparent and credible process.

According to him, some applicants have petitioned him of how they were short-changed despite the fact that they were qualified.

In some occasions, the names of screened candidates who were successful to the last stage were removed, the statement said, adding that many of those picked by the PSC as successful candidates did not even take part in the recruitment exercise.

The statement reads “The published list contains several names of candidates who failed either the Computer Based Test (CBT) or the physical screening exercise or both.

“There are those who made it to the last stage of the exercise but were disqualified having been found Medically unfit through the standardised medical test but who also made the list of successful candidates as published by the PSC.

“Most worrisome is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted”.

The magazine notes that the recruitment exercise into the NPF has remained a serious tussle between the IGP and PSC for years.