Be involved in civil matters, lose your promotion, PSC chair warns police officers

Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Hashimu Argungu, has warned that serving police officers who are found involved in civil matters such as land, rent and marital disputes will henceforth be sanctioned and their promotions suspended.

Mr Argungu, a retired deputy inspector general of police, noted that the failure of the police will obviously be the failure of the commission and that it will no longer condone serious abuse of office by serving officers.

He said police officers should stay clear of civil matters and allow the civil courts to do their duties.

Mr Argungu spoke when he received in audience a delegation from the Justice Research Institute led by Made Ipaye.

The PSC chairman said he will run a transparent, open and corrupt free administration in the commission stressing that all funds it received and spent must be accounted for.

” I will never spare thieves wherever I am. We are here to assist the government fight corruption,” he said.

“I come to work before 8 a.m. and I am the last person to leave the office, that is leadership, I have not changed and will never change; I know that leadership is everything. My mandate is not to come here to embezzle money, I must ensure transparency and openness and I will fight to the last,” he added.

Mr Argungu assured the visiting team that the commission will partner with them in the area of training so that staff of the commission will be exposed to local and international trainings.

Mr Ipaye expressed his happiness that they have a partner in the PSC chairman who wants to fight corruption, adding that transparency in government has always been a rare commodity.

He said they were in the commission to assist it to drive its constitutional mandate to improve the workings of the police.

He said they will provide opportunities for the staff of the commission to be trained to understand their role as a supervisory body of the Nigeria Police Force.

“We will ensure that the PSC is trained and that the staff are good enough to discharge its statutory disciplinary function,” Mr Ipaye said.

Transparent recruitment process

Mr Argungu had earlier at a staff management meeting announced the setting up of a Joint Oversight of Recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force. This, he said, is to ensure a seamless and transparent recruitment process.

He said he and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, will jointly oversee the recruitment process.

He also announced the establishment of Police Recruitment Secretariat at the Police Service Commission headquarters. The secretariat, he said, would serve as the central hub for coordinating all recruitment activities, ensuring communication, proper documentation, and efficiency across all stages of the process.

The PSC chairman noted that the portal for recruitment to be accessible for the stakeholders will be domiciled at the commission’s corporate headquarters.

Ikechukwu Ani

Head, Press and Public Relations

Tuesday, 10th September 2024