Police reject 10,000 new officers, demand cancellation of recruitment exercise

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

In a statement, the force’s spokesperson, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, yesterday said the police authorities raised the alarm over the exercise after several complaints from candidates and stakeholders after many names of candidates were shortlisted. have disappeared from the list.

The NPF said: “This became necessary after being inundated with a series of complaints and allegations of corruption raised by unsuspecting candidates and stakeholders regarding the irregularities that marred the exercise, including the disappearance of names of shortlisted candidates who were retained until the final stage.

“After careful review of the list published on the Police Service Commission portal, it has been discovered that several names of persons alleged to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not did not participate 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 final stage of the exercise but were disqualified, having been found medically unfit by the standardized medical examination, but who also made it onto the list of successful candidates as published by the CPS. Most worrying is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the pre-selection of unqualified and untrainable people.

Police said the Inspector General of Police wrote a letter of objection to the list to the commission chairman on June 10, 2024, citing the findings listed above.

“The IGP’s reaction was without prejudice to the power of the commission to recruit for the police, as held by the Supreme Court, but this power does not include the power to recruit unqualified and untrained individuals for the police,” the statement added. that it is the police who bear the brunt of the recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the CPS.

“The same people who recruited haphazardly for the police today will turn around tomorrow to accuse the police of inefficiency when their recruits start making mistakes. The police have therefore since dissociated themselves from the published list and requested a review which is transparent and credible,” said the police spokesperson.

It may be recalled that the management of the Police Service Commission, after the delivery of the Supreme Court judgment on its recruitment powers for the police, constituted a Joint Recruitment Commission headed by one of the commissioners of the commission with the deputy inspector general of police for training and development as secretary.

But it was alleged that the board was paralyzed and was never allowed to fulfill its mandate, so much so that even the final list was not approved by it.

ACP Olumuyiwa added; “The Nigeria Police therefore protests against 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 President Bola Tinubu. -led by the administration on police reforms.

“The NPF hereby reiterates that we are not indifferent to the plight and ordeals of the potential recruits who have been subjected to all forms of rigorous selection exercises, and assures that we are committed to ensuring that the process is carefully considered , fruitful and successful. for the good of the Nigerian Police Force and, by extension, the country.

Police claim for PSC misconduct

In response, the joint staff union of the Police Service Commission (PSC) yesterday rejected the police’s claims, saying the recruitment exercise followed due process.

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

He said the claim by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, that the recruitment exercise is marred by irregularities and alleged corruption, is a red herring, according to a statement jointly issued by Ogundeji Remi and Adoyi Adoyi of the CPS Joint Trade Union Congress.