Buhari stops police recruitment over Senate, PSC clash

President directs EFCC to return seized N10b to NBC

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the suspension of the recruitment exercise into the police to resolve the clash between the Senate and the Police Service Commission (PSC).

Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Abu Ibrahim, said during a briefing at the National Assembly Complex yesterday that while the Senate wants the recruitment based on nine persons per local government, the PSC prefers equality of states as criterion.

Ibrahim explained that the position of the Senate was informed by the need to ensure that more policemen are recruited from states with higher population pointing out that even the policy of community policing would be better enhanced if policemen are recruited from the most rural areas in local government councils.

The committee chairman hinted that the insistence of the Police Service Commission that the recruitment be based on equality of states made resolution of the crisis difficult, adding that this was why the President waded into the matter by halting the recruitment.

According to him, the matter would be resolved when the President returns from Germany next week.

Also, the president has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return the N10 billion it seized from the National Broadcasting Commission back to the commission’s account.

The money, which was part of the proceeds from the sales of spectrum made by the past administration, was seized by EFCC in March 2016.

Director General of NBC, Modibbo Kawu, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday while briefing journalists on the International Conference for African Broadcasters (AFRICAST) billed for October 18 2016, said that NBC is working towards getting the money to fast track the digitization process.

Kawu noted that Nigeria is ready to use the digital revolution as a major starting point for revolutionary approach to employment in the country.

He added that the president knows that the Digital Switch Over is a very important process and very critical to Nigeria’s economic success.

Senator Ibrahim said: “Recruitment? Honestly, it has to be suspended for two obvious reasons. First, lawmakers agreed that this recruitment must be done per local government.

“And the reason for that is that we are poised to give emphasis to community policing. The local governments are the smallest recognised unit by the constitution. So, nine per local government will form the nucleus for this community policing per local government. The obstacle was equality of states.

“Some people felt that it is not representative of federal character. I asked them what about what is happening in the National Assembly, in which the number of persons per state in the House of Representatives is by the size of the local governments of that state, while the Senate is based on equality of states.