The Police Service Commission (PSC), on Friday, June 21, asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun to provide verifiable evidence to prove allegation that the recruitment of 10, 000 eligible constables into the force was marred with irregularities and corruption.
PSC said the recruitment process followed due process, saying that all candidates have been fully certified fit for the job.
Recalled that the IGP had on Thursday claimed that the PSC manipulated the recruitment procedure.
The commission said it is disturbing at the flagrant abuse of ethics, the constitution and valid judgment of the apex court of the land which gave power to the PSC to conduct recruitment into the police force.
According to a statement issued by the Head of Press and Public Relations, PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, the commission had watched with keen interest the developments since it concluded and released the list of successful candidates for recruitment as Constables into the Nigeria Police Force.
The commission also insisted that its list of successful candidates and that of the Police should be subjected to a forensic audit using the result of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Computer Based Test (CBT).
Ani said: “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.
“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.
“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”.
PSC said 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, adding that the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on the 30th September, 2020.
Ani said: “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”.
PSC said the assertion of recruiting persons who will commit suicide and who are deaf and dumb is uncharitable and preposterous, and that: “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”. (The Nation)
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