What appeared to be a simple straightforward recruitment exercise has pitched the Police Service Commission (PSC) against the Force Headquarters, writes NICOLAS KALU, Abuja
It was supposed to be a simple straightforward exercise – recruit 10, 000 constables into the Nigeria Police to help check the growing internal security challenges. The process started towards the end of last year with the Police Service Commission (PSC) working with the Force Headquarters to call for applications from interested members of the public. But along the line, the Commission accused the Police of hijacking the exercise and since then, things have fallen apart between the PSC and the Force. The PSC accused the Police of tinkering with the original list of shortlisted candidates and going ahead to release same arbitrarily. This, the Commission said, was illegal and cannot stand. And the ding dong continues, with members of the public bearing the brunt.
The Commission insists it has the constitutional mandate to appoint, promote and exercise disciplinary control over all personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, with the exception of the Inspector General of Police. The situation has continued to worsen as the relationship between both institutions has continued to deteriorate.
It is worrisome that while this is going on, the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate. This has not helped the lot of the Police which has continued to be plagued by inadequate manpower over the years. It then seems strange that an exercise, which is meant to address the problem, has been stalled due to a supremacy battle between IGP Mohammad Adamu and the chairman of the PSC, Mr Musiliu Smith.
Unfortunately, the government of the day appears to be treating the matter with levity as the battle between the parties shifts to the courts. And while the battle rages, the people groan under the weight of insecurity of their lives and property.
Wielding the big stick, the Commission has suspended all police promotions and retirements, saying the situation would remain so until the issues are resolved. The decision was reached following a meeting of the PSC with the Joint Trade Union Congress of the Commission in September.
The Management of the PSC assured the staff union that all police officers found culpable in the ongoing dispute will be sanctioned appropriately as they are constitutionally under the disciplinary control of the Commission and cannot hide under any authority to flout the law.
The stalled promotion and retirement processes in the police is said to have triggered muffled disenchantment within the ranks of the Force. A source in the PSC said: “The staff union of the Commission has insisted that the PSC suspend all activities that concern the police until the matter is resolved. They got the management to agree that the processes be suspended. Since then there has been piles of recommendations for promotion. For instance, about three AIGs have retired and we are not processing their retirement letters. And if it is not processed, you cannot access your benefits. It is when you get this letter that you can now go and access those benefits.
“Then for those that have pending disciplinary matters (PDM), they are still in abeyance and nobody is looking at them. And if you have PDM, you cannot be promoted even when you are due for promotion. So there is a problem. Nigeria needs these people we are recruiting to get into the system fast so that they can help in fighting the security challenges we are faced with. Now that everything is stalled, nothing is happening again.
“All these things are pending and the union is insisting on putting the processes in abeyance until the issues are resolved. It is terrible that nothing is being done about it for a matter as critical as security. The policemen are not happy and the feedback we are getting from the states indicates so. Tension is building up. There is a build-up of animosity and there is likely to be some revolt, because when you don’t get promoted, when you retire and you cannot get your retirement letters processed for you to get your benefits, and when you have PDMs that nobody is addressing, anger builds up.”
Lamenting the situation further, the source said: “The implication is that it would shake the system. Police are not doing enough in internal security. The Army has now taken over their job. They are not interested in that. What they are interested in is recruiting constables. So these are things people should look at. Why can’t the police face their constitutional role? They did not set up the police to recruit. They set them up to ensure that there is internal security. The commission was set up to recruitments.
“There is a retired AIG who is a member of the PSC board and he is there to protect the interest of the police. There are people on the board representing the media, the organised private sector, human rights organization and so on. The composition of the PSC is one of the best in the world. There is someone representing the judiciary, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court. And you are now talking of a commission headed by a former IGP. So what does the present IGP knows that the former IGP does not know. So you see they are just doing this thing because of personal ego.
“They have messed up the entire thing. The authentic people that applied for recruitment as constables are now stranded. This is a recruitment exercise that was started since last year and would have ended by now. Now the police has messed it up. The police should face their basic responsibility of ensuring there is peace and safety in the country, internal security, and leave another agency of government saddled with the responsibility of getting the right persons to join the Force. Now there is no promotion and no recruitment, the force is stagnating and this is the worse time for such a thing to happen.”
Speaking with our correspondent during the week, Secretary of the Joint Trade Union Congress, Remi Ogundeji, said the union would stop at nothing to ensure the Commission’s duties are not usurped.
Ogundeji said: “I feel it is a systemic failure and this can only happen in Nigeria. It is a flagrant abuse of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which can never happen elsewhere. It can only happen in an environment that has lost its sanity. It cannot happen in a sane environment. You can’t usurp the constitutional mandate of the Police Service Commission. This is a body established by the constitution for the recruitment, promotion and discipline/dismissal of police officers. If you are talking about recruitment and you are saying the commission does not actually recruit, who you to promote are, who are you to discipline or dismiss. So if you are taking away the function of recruitment, that means before you know it, the commission would cease to exist and that is why the union is here to defend and protect the constitution. We will also defend and protect our job because if the commission ceases to exist, that means we no longer have any job here. So that is why we would not stop at nothing to ensure that our powers are not usurped by the IGP.
“Presently, we have a serious security situation on our hands. Police officers retire every day. Some of them die in the course of their duties. Some of them willingly resign and what that translates to is shortage of manpower. When you now cease to recruit, you know what it means. There would now be gross inadequate police personnel to secure the country. It’s a keg of gunpowder waiting to explode. So if something drastic is not done in earnest, your guess is as good as mine”.
Getting into the fray, the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, had thrown his support behind the Police to carry out the recruitment. But a former Chairman of the Commission and a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Parry Osayande, countered Malami.
According to Osayande, effort by the Nigeria Police to carry out recruitment of constables is an assault on the constitution. He described the development as dangerous, saying the Police were putting aside the Nigeria constitution, which is the superordinate law in the land.
Osayande said: “You can imagine the danger in it if you ask everybody to go and be recruiting. That was the principal objective of having the Police Service Commission.
“In 1957, before independence, there was a constitutional conference and all the Nigerian leaders were invited. At that conference, the minority expressed fears that the majority would use the police to oppress. So the British government in their wisdom set up the Willink Commission of Enquiry to look into the fears of the minority. It was that commission that recommended that there should a Police Service Commission, whose chairman shall be apolitical. And then they were given three principal functions, one was to recruit people into the police, and in doing so, they should ensure that there is ethnic balancing. Two, that they should be responsible for discipline of all members of the police force, and finally, they should be responsible for promotion of all ranks from constable to Deputy Inspector General of Police, except the IGP who is appointed by the Police Council.
“This was enshrined in the constitution, but because the PSC was not properly funded, it could not function properly. They did not have the sufficient manpower. It would appear that at that point, the Commission delegated its functions of recruitment to the police. It does not mean that it is their function.
“At all times, government functionaries, the police and the PSC should use the law as guide in the performance of their duties.
“I would have thought that the Attorney-General would interpret it for them and tell them who is to do what. But since they have disagreed, I think the court would be the final arbiter.”
Curiously however, while the PSC has suspended the recruitment exercise, the Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Dingyadi, said the exercise is ongoing. Police sources said the conflicting claims portrayed a lack of cohesion within the police management system. Many describe the development as disturbing, considering the already precarious security situation in the country.
Dingyadi spoke publicly for the first time on the issue during a recent visit to the IGP Mohammed Adamu. According to him, the recruitment of 10, 000 constables has not been stopped as the PSC claimed.
The minister said: “The recruitment process is on and has not stopped. We intend to recruit 10, 000 constables annually. The first batch of 10, 000 is still in the process. We will continue to recruit 10, 000 next year by the grace of God. Promotions are ongoing for people who are due to be promoted. I am not aware of any open delay or any glaring delay in promotions. We believe the Police Service Commission is up to the task to promote officers due for promotion. We are all here to receive any complaints or any issues on non-promotion. We would take it up and ensure that the needful is done by the grace of God”.
The minister said the lingering face-off between the Police and the PSC was being blown out of proportion. He said, “Maybe people are overblowing it. There is nothing serious about. It is an interim misunderstanding and this we are trying to manage. The two organisations are equal to the task and they are managing themselves very well and we believe it would be history. It is nothing new in organisations. There is always this kind of misunderstanding. We don’t need to tell anybody what we are doing but the situation is under control by the grace of God and things would continue to normalise. And nothing has stopped, for your information. Everything is going on. The recruitment, like I said, is on. We have not finished. We are trying to screen and very soon we would tell you where we are”.
The PSC on Tuesday debunked the minster’s claims, asking members of the public to ignore the purported list of candidates scheduled for training, which was released by the Force Headquarters.
In a statement by Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations unit of the PSC, the Commission dissociated itself from the list, dismissing it as illegal.
The statement reads: “The Police Service Commission dissociates itself from a purported list of candidates scheduled for training and allegedly released by the Nigeria Police Force in respect of the recruitment exercise into the Constable cadre of the Force. The Commission notes that the list released by the Police is an act of illegality and from close observation was in serious breach of the Federal Character requirements. The Commission urges the public to be wary of the list as it will soon resume the remaining stages of the recruitment process and release the authentic list of successful candidates, local government by local government.”
A security expert and President of the African Council on Narcotics, Mr Rekpene Bassey, called for system reforms to resolve the crisis. Bassey said, “It is necessary to have a review. It calls for reforms to avoid this kind of situation otherwise the system would suffer. There is presidential approval to recruit 10, 000 police personnel, but because of this misunderstanding, the process has been delayed. It is the masses that would suffer because whereas we would have had an additional 10, 000 policemen.”
And where does the Nigeria Police Council (NPC) stand on the festering face-off between the Police and the PSC?
The NPC, according to Section 27 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, comprises the President as chairman, governor of each of the state of the federation, chairman of the PSC and the IGP. Incidentally, neither the Attorney-General of the Federation nor the Minister of Police Affairs who have dabbled into the matter is a member of the NPC. The battle rages on as Nigerians await the intervention of the NPC. Who blinks first?
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