There were strong indications yesterday that the Police Service Commission (PSC) may have suspended the final phase of selecting 10,000 successful candidates for recruitment into the Nigeria Police.
The decision to suspend the last phase (final selection) was informed by pressure from some National Assembly members reports News Telegraph.
The bone of contention, it was gathered, is the alleged demand that the Commission adopt the “local government by local government” arrangement. This request was said to have been rejected by the Commission, which insisted on sticking to the “state-by-state” tradition, in accordance with the federal character principle. Investigations further revealed that the Inspector- General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, had allegedly written to the PSC, wherein he was said to have reminded the Com-mission that it (PSC) has since ceded the power to recruit Constables to the Police.
It was learnt that the Commission had ceded that responsibility to the Force Headquarters, but with the understanding that it will be carried out in conjunction with the PSC. This was even as it was alleged that some officers working with the Commission in Jigawa State, where the commissioners and the Chairman, Sir Mike Okiro, had temporarily relocated to, were allegedly withdrawn. Okiro and his commissioners were said to have moved to Jigawa State to stave-off pressure, thereby selecting the “best” for the Police.
One of the sources, who spoke in confidence with this newspaper, said the chairman and other commissioners have since left Jigawa. “I’m not speaking to you officially, but I want to inform you that the Commission has suspended the last phase, which is the final selection of the 10,000 successful candidate for training.
“The suspension – please note this – of this phase, is because the signals the Commission is getting is not clear at all. Some highly placed personalities are insisting that the local government-by-local government arrangement be adopted.
The leadership of the Commission insisted on sticking to the state-bystate tradition, which, they believe, is what the constitution and the federal character principle favour,” he said. Asked to name who these “highly placed personalities” are, the source said: “The chairman of one of the Committees in the House of Representatives (name withheld) had called to make the demand. He insisted, and even went to the extent of saying it is not the job of the Commission to recruit.
“The chairman and his commissioners were doing final selection where nobody will disturb them.” According to him, “they chose Jigawa State because they wanted a quiet place to enable them select the best.”
Another source told New Telegraph that: “Usually, when the Commission is doing recruitment, they call the Police, like the senior officer or officers in charge of training, police doctors and tailors to take measurements.”
Asked what will happen now that the final selection, which was to be concluded this week, has been put on hold, he noted: “The Commission needs to know the position of the Presidency, which will guide our direction. “As I speak with you, our Chairman and the Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs are still trying to have an appointment with Mr. President, who is the final authority on this matter.”
The source alleged that: “Representatives of the Police (Force Headquarters) were there, including the Jigawa CP, but they were withdrawn last Friday.” New Telegraph was still expecting a reply to a text message sent to the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Don Awunah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), as at the time of filing this report.
Out of the 10,000 personnel to be recruited, 500 are Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), 500 will be Cadet Inspectors, 1,500 will be specialist officers, while 7,500 will be Constables.
