Recruitment: Retired senior officers wade into police, PSC face-off

Some retired senior police officers have expressed deep concern over the ongoing dispute between the Nigeria Police Force and the Police Service Commission regarding recruitment processes.

The police had in a statement on Saturday by the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, rejected the names of those recruited by the PSC.

Adejobi said the commission’s portal was scrutinised and it was discovered that “several names of persons purported to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not take part in the recruitment exercise.”

The allegation came days after the PSC released a list of 10,000 successful candidates for recruitment as police constables.

However, the Joint Union Congress of the Police Service Commission faulted the claim by the police, stating that a board was constituted which had a representative from the police.

The union also said the police DIG, Training, Frank Mba, was in attendance when the board met and endorsed the list rejected by the police.

However, the retired officers, many of whom have decades of service and experience, are worried that the conflict is undermining the integrity of the organisations.

A retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Adedayo Adeoye, said the two organisations should have quietly resolved the matter.

Adeoye added that the police had never been satisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision granting the PSC the authority to handle police recruitment.

He said, “It is a case of dog-eating dog. These are issues that can be quietly resolved by the two. The whole issue borders on corruption.

“The police have never been happy with the Supreme Court’s judgment. The amount of money allocated in the budget is in billions. It was initially allocated to the police but has now been transferred to the PSC.

“The police can easily withdraw those not qualified at the training institutions without making unnecessary noise. All this may make the government have a second thought about making retired police officers the Chairman of the PSC.”

A retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ali Amodu, described the dispute over recruitment as a show of shame.

“That is a show of shame. They should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.

Asked what he thinks could be done to stop the shameful act, Amodu said, “Let them return to the way things used to be. The recruitment of constables used to be done by the force headquarters. The appointment of cadets and those on secondment were done by the commission. That is how it has been there. Then suddenly they say the commission should recruit for the police. This has caused the fight. The President should intervene in the matter.”

A retired Commission of Police, Lawrence Alobi, urged the two organisations to stop seeing themselves as rivals.

He said, “The development is not only sad but embarrassing. The PSC and police are meant to work together and have a common purpose. They should not compete with each other. What they should be after is what is best for the country and the Force.

“The PSC should acknowledge that the police are the ones to train, deploy and use those recruited and if they recruit unqualified people the consequences would be grievous. The country will suffer, the Force will suffer and the force will be blamed. I urge the PSC and the police to work together in harmony for the best interest of the country. There should be no competition.”