PSC: Provide evidence of recruitment fraud

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has called on the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to provide evidence supporting the allegations made against it regarding the recruitment of constables.

In a statement issued on Friday by its Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, the PSC said that the NPF aims to tarnish its reputation.

The PSC demanded that the NPF provide verifiable evidence for the allegations, describing it as a case of “giving a dog a bad name to hang it.”

“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 to the mandate of the Commission.

“The Commission has studied the issues around this successfully concluded recruitment exercise and has concluded that even after the Supreme Court Judgment, the Police is reluctant to allow the Commission to 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 to hang it,” it said.

The NPF, through a statement by Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, on Saturday, rejected the list of recruited constables provided by the PSC. Adejobi claimed that the PSC’s portal included names of individuals who did not apply or participate in the recruitment process.

In response, the Joint Union Congress of the PSC denied the allegations and called for the removal of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.

On Thursday, Egbetokun denied any personal conflict with the PSC, stating that his actions aimed to ensure the recruitment of qualified individuals into the force.

The PSC maintained that due process was meticulously followed during the recruitment exercise and stressed its constitutional prerogative to oversee police recruitments. The commission proposed a forensic audit of the recruitment lists using the results from the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) computer-based test.

Ani noted that the Supreme Court judgement delivered on July 11, 2023 granted recruitment powers to the PSC without assigning any role to the police.

He said, “It is relevant to state that the judgement and even the Constitution did not give the Police any role in the recruitment of any cadre of Officers into the Police Force”.

This claim contradicted the IGP’s claim that the police should not be excluded from the process.

Egbetokun argued that while the Supreme Court empowered the PSC to recruit, it did not exclude the NPF from the process.

Ani noted that while the police attributed their inability to perform to poor recruitment practices, the previous recruitment by the police is hindering their ability to discharge their duties effectively.

“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,” the statement read.

“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.”

Ani called on President Bola Tinubu to caution Egbetokun to respect the constitutional mandate of the commission.

He said, “It is the considered opinion of the Commission that the successful candidates should be allowed to proceed on training without delay.”

“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.”