The Police Service Commission, on Tuesday, said it would never bow to pressure to cancel the recent recruitment of 10,000 police constables.
The commission described as false a report suggesting that the recruitment exercise had been cancelled following the allegation of corruption by the Nigeria Police Force.
Shortly after the PSC released the names of 10,000 successful candidates, the NPF, in a statement by its spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, it would not accept the recruits into the Force because the recruitment process was riddled with corruption.
According to Adejobi, the NPF 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 PSC and the Joint Congress of the Police Service Commission, however, vehemently defended the exercise and refuted the claim of allegation.
On Tuesday, the commission in a statement by its Head, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, stressed that the final list of successful candidates from the recruitment exercise would never be cancelled.
He insisted that the exercise was done in accordance with relevant laws.
Ani said, “The Police Service Commission has just concluded routine maintenance of its portal containing the list of successful candidates for the recently concluded recruitment into the constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force. The commission wishes to disown a statement circulating in social media alleging that it has succumbed to pressure and cancelled the final list of successful candidates.
“The commission has not and will not cancel the final list of successful candidates from the recruitment exercise which was conducted in clear adherence to relevant guidelines and provisions of the law. The commission is in control of the situation and has since restored the recruitment portal with its original contents.”
The PSC, therefore, urged successful candidates to “ignore the deliberate antics of desperate groups bent on destroying the good work of the commission in giving the nation a merit-based and inclusive recruitment exercise.”
The commission restates that the portal is now fully functional and accessible. Candidates can now log in and access all its features without any disruptions. The commission regrets the hitches and assures that it has fully secured the platform,” Ani said.
Meanwhile, a former Inspector-General of Police, Mike Okiro, on Tuesday, called on the PSC and the NPF to work in harmony in the interest of national security.
Okiro, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the fight against insecurity would remain a mirage unless the commission and the police worked in harmony to police Nigeria with vigour.
“I implore both parties to eschew whatever be their perceived bitterness and embrace the fact that their jobs go hand in hand.
Their focus should be how to meet the overwhelming yearnings of the Nigerian people and that can only happen when mutual respect exists between both parties.
“I am very concerned that a minute issue that can be resolved through robust dialogue was allowed to fester to the level of washing dirty linens in public,“ Okiro said.
He said that the lingering face-off had done collateral damage to their public image, and ridiculed the international standing of Nigeria.
“To move forward, it is imperative to work quickly and assiduously to address the real challenges facing Nigerians; else, the goodwill enjoyed by both parties will soon dissipate.
“This will further erode the fabric of confidence of Nigerians in our democratic process, which will spell doom for our economy too,“ Okiro warned.
