Police Reject 10,000 New Constables, Demand Cancellation Of Recruitment Exercise

The Nigeria Police Force has rejected the 10,000 constables recruited in the 2022/23 recruitment exercise, saying it was marred by irregularities and corruption as names of unqualified candidates were smuggled into the final list.

A statement by the force spokesman, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, yesterday said the police authorities raised the alarm over the exercise after several complaints by candidates and stakeholders after many names of successful candidates disappeared from the list.

The NPF said; “This became necessary upon being inundated with a series of complaints and allegations of corruption raised by unsuspecting candidates and stakeholders on the irregularities that marred the exercise most especially the disappearance of the names of screened candidates who were successful to the last stage.

“Upon careful scrutiny of the list released on the Police Service Commission portal, 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 published list contains several names of candidates who failed either the Computer Based Test (CBT) or the physical screening exercise or both. There are those who made it to the last stage of the exercise but were disqualified, having been found medically unfit through the standardised medical test but who also made the list of successful candidates as published by the PSC. Most worrisome is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted.”

The police said the inspector-general of police had on June 10, 2024 written a letter of objection to the list addressed to the chairman of the commission, citing the discoveries listed above.

“The reaction of the IGP was without prejudice to the power of the commission to recruit for the police as ruled by the Supreme Court but this power does not include the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police,” the statement added, noting that it is the police that bears the brunt of recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the PSC.

“The same people who recruited anyhow for the police today will turn round to accuse the police tomorrow of inefficiency when their recruits start messing up.  The police therefore have since dissociated itself from the published list and called for a review that will be transparent and credible,” the force spokesman stated.

It would be recalled that the leadership of the Police Service Commission, after the pronouncement of the Supreme Court ruling on its powers to recruit for the police, constituted a Joint Recruitment Board headed by one of the commissioners in the commission with the deputy inspector general of police in charge of training and development as its secretary.

But it was alleged that the board was crippled and never allowed to carry out its mandate, insomuch that even the final list was not consented to by it.

ACP Olumuyiwa added; “The Nigeria Police Force therefore takes exception to this unpleasant development and calls for a total review of the process with a view to recruiting qualified, competent, trainable and productive hands into the Nigeria Police Force, in line with the vision of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration on police reforms.

“The NPF hereby reiterates that we are not unconcerned about the plight and ordeals of prospective recruits who have been subjected to all forms of rigorous screening exercise, and assure that it is our commitment to ensure that the process is thoroughly reviewed, stands fruitful and successful for the betterment of the Nigeria Police, and by extension the country.”

PSC Faults Police Claim

Reacting, the Police Service Commission PSC staff joint union yesterday faulted the claim by the police, saying the recruitment exercise followed due process.

The union said it aligned with the outcome result of what the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), CBT provided.

It said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun’s claim that the recruitment exercise is marred with irregularities and alleged Corruption is diversionary, according to a statement jointly issued by Ogundeji Remi, Adoyi Adoyi of the Joint Union Congress of the PSC.