Hand Over 2020 Police Recruitment Exercise To Us, Police Service Commission Tells Inspector General Of Police

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has asked Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), to hand over the ongoing recruitment exercise of police constables and cadets in compliance with the order of the court of appeal.

The PSC in a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani said; he said; “the Commission has directed the Inspector General of Police to handover the on-going 2020 recruitment exercise of Police Constables into the Nigeria Police Force and Cadets into the Nigeria Police Academy in compliance with the Order of the Court of Appeal.”

“The Commission’s directive was contained in a letter to the IGP signed by the Chairman of the Commission, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police and dated October 20th, 2020,”  he said.

It would be recalled that the PSC had challenged the powers of the IGP to recruit 10,000 police constables into the force.

On December 2, 2019, Inyang Ekwo, judge of a federal high court, Abuja, dismissed PSC’s suit for lacking merit.

However, on September 30, 2020, a three-man panel of the appellate court led by Olabisi Ige ruled that the IGP and the NPF lack powers to recruit constables into the force.

The panel unanimously held that the power to carry out the recruitment was exclusively that of the PSC.

The IGP has since filed an appeal before the supreme court seeking to upturn the appellate court’s decision.