By Gideon Njoku
As the spat between the Police Service Commission, PSC, and the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, over the recruitment of 10,000 Police Constables continues unabated, the Commission has accused the Inspector General of Police, Dr Kayode Egbetokun of a gross violation of Public Service Rules, PSR, and said such violation has consequences.
The two institutions have been at loggerheads over whose brief it is to recruit Police Constables.
Recruitment of Police Personnel, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, is domiciled in/with the PSC. However, for harmony, and in realisation of the fact that it is the NPF that would train those recruited, Recruitments have always been done by the PSC in conjuction with the NPF and other relevant stakeholders including the Federal Character Commission. And, it is the NPF Medical Unit which handles the medical and physical screening of candidates and declares them fit or not.
For years, however, the NPF has consistently sought to hijack the exercise, a situation which led to a legal tussle, and finally settled by the Supreme Court in favour of the PSC.
The SC ruling notwithstanding, the NPF raised the ante in the recent recruitment by inexplicably rubbishing the exercise it undertook with the PSC and other stakeholders. It distanced itself from the list of successful candidates released by the PSC, a product of the joint exercise, and insisted on its own seperate list.
The controversy worsened when the NPF accused the PSC, without proof, of corruption in the exercise. Not a few people were shocked at the brazeness of NPF, especially, as the Chairman of the PSC at the time of the recruitment was Dr. Solomon Arase, one of the best and most respected IGPs the NPF has ever had.
The NPF’s stand was met with reactions which came like claps of thunder from many quarters. A couple of days ago, the PSC Workers Union, asked President Bola Tinubu to sack the IGP from office over the recruitment.
But in its first official response to the NPF allegations over the recruitment exercise, the PSC, in a statement signed by Ikechukwu Ani, its Head, Press and Public Relations, dated June 21, 2024, said it found the allegations against the PSC, as are contained in an NPF statement, “uncharitable and preposterous”.
Said the statement: “The assertion of recruiting persons who will commit suicide and who are deaf and dumb is uncharitable and preposterous. During recruitment exercises, the physical and medical screenings are handled by Police Personnel, so if deaf and dumb persons and those with suicidal tendencies are recruited into the Force, then the Police Personnel who screened and recommended them should be held responsible.”
The Commission insists in the release that its list of successful candidates and that of the NPF be subjected to a forensic audit using the result of the JAMB computer-based test.
It also accused the IGP of making public a confidential letter he wrote to the PSC Chairman on the recruitment exercise and categorised the IGP’s action as a breach of the Public Service Rules which has consequences.
Explaining why the Police is hell bent on running the PSC and the already concluded recruitment down, the PSC statement noted: “The Commission is aware that this current brazen show of power by the Police with attendant spurious allegations is to perpetuate their stranglehold on the recruitment of Constables, even against the judgement of the Supreme Court.”
Following is the full text of the PSC response.
2022 POLICE CONSTABLE RECRUITMENT: OUR POSITION – PSC
The Police Service Commission has watched with keen interest developments since it concluded and released the list of successful candidates for recruitment as Constables into the Nigeria Police Force.
The Commission is disturbed at the flagrant abuse of ethics, the Constitution and valid judgment of the apex court of the land.
The Commission wishes to state as follows;
- That the release of the confidential letter sent to the Chairman of the Commission by the Inspector General of Police on alleged lapses in the recruitment exercise to the Media was a gross violation of the Public Service Rules with grave Consequences.
- That since 2019, when a former Inspector General of Police hijacked the soft copy of an ongoing recruitment exercise and forcefully completed the exercise without the input of the Commission – the statutory body solely charged with such responsibility, the Commission has not been allowed to perform this constitutional duty.
- The Commission has at every turn suffered several indignities in its attempt to perform functions provided to it by the Constitution even after the Supreme Court decided the matter in its favour.
- That this show of brute force and intimidation by the Police and most recently inducements of hired writers to run down the Commission in the Media is a serious affront on the mandate of the Commission.
The Commission has studied the issues around this successfully concluded recruitment exercise and has come to the conclusion that even after the Supreme Court Judgment, the Police is reluctant to allow the Commission perform this constitutional assignment. The Commission demands that the Police should provide verifiable evidence to prove the allegations peddled against it as it is obvious that it is a case of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
It is important to state that due process was meticulously followed throughout the exercise and the Commission wishes to assert its prerogative to exercise full control over recruitments into the Nigeria Police Force.
The Commission is also insisting that its list of successful candidates and that of the Police should be subjected to a forensic audit using the result of the JAMB computer based test.
The Supreme Court Judgment delivered on 11th July 2023 in the case of NPF & Ors v Police Service Commission & Anor (2023) – LPELR-60782(SC) reinforces the Commission’s “exclusive” statutory authority in the recruitment of Constables.
The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on the 30th September, 2020.
The Appeal Court among other decisions gave an order of “Perpetual injunction restraining the Defendants, jointly or severally, by themselves or through Officers, agents or representatives or through any other body or appointee of of the Federal Government of Nigeria from further exercising or purporting to exercise the powers to appoint, promote, dismiss or in any manner howsoever exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or aspiring to hold any office in the Nigeria Police Force other than the Inspector General of Police. It also gave an Order nullifying any act or attempt by the Defendants whether acting jointly or severally in appointing or purporting to appoint any person into 1st Defendant whether by means of enlistment, shortlisting, recognition recruitment or in any other manner howsoever, such act or attempt being ultra vires the functions and powers of the Defendants.
It also gave a declaration “that any act or attempt by the Defendants in appointing, recruiting and/or shortlisting for appointment, persons aspiring to hold any office in the Nigeria Police Force except the Office of the Inspector-General of Police amounts to unlawful and unjustified usurpation of the exclusive constitutional and statutory functions and powers of the Plaintiff and accordingly null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”
In this judgment, there was no role assigned to any person or persons outside the Commission in the conduct of recruitment and as such, any claim to that effect is serious contempt of Court.
The Commission however had, in its wisdom, invited relevant stakeholders into a Board for the recruitment exercise to ensure inclusiveness and transparency. This magnanimity has since been misconstrued. It is relevant to state that the judgment and even the Constitution did not give the Police any role in the recruitment of any cadre of Officers into the Police Force.
It is unfortunate that the Police has attributed its obvious failure to protect lives and properties, and safeguard our nation from banditry and terrorism to bad recruitment. This claim is self indicting and provocative. Since 2019 when the Police forcefully snatched the exercise from the Commission, they have gone ahead against the provisions of the law to Superintendent over the 2020 and 2021 exercises. It is the fraudulent Recruits they brought into the system during these exercises that are currently haunting the Nigeria Police Force.
The Commission is aware that this current brazen show of power by the Police with attendant spurious allegations is to perpetuate their stranglehold on the recruitment of Constables, even against the judgment of the Supreme Court.
The assertion of recruiting persons who will commit suicide and who are deaf and dumb is uncharitable and preposterous. During recruitment exercises, the physical and medical screenings are handled by Police personnel, so if deaf and dumb persons and those with suicidal tendencies are recruited into the Force, then the Police personnel who screened and recommended them should be held responsible.
The Commission is aware that all these distractions are calculated attempts by the Police to hold on, by all means, to the recruitment of Police Constables despite the Supreme Court Judgment.
The Commission wishes to appeal to Mr. President to protect it and rein in the Nigeria Police Force to respect the Constitutional Mandate of the Commission to recruit. The Nigeria Police Force is created to enforce the law and not to circumvent it in whatever guise.
It is the considered opinion of the Commission that the successful candidates should be allowed to proceed on training without delay.
