Recruitment row: PSC workers ask Tinubu to sack IGP, say Arase’s removal politically motivated

Workers at the Police Service Commission (PSC) have asked President Bola Tinubu to sack Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), over alleged interference in the recruitment of constables.

Speaking during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Adoyi Adoyi, chairman of the joint union congress of the PSC, alleged that the police headquarters attempted to compromise the recruitment exercise.

Adoyi dismissed the allegation that the recruitment exercise was fraught with corruption and irregularities.

The union leader said the “meddlesomeness” of the police authorities in the mandate of the commission is an “affront” to the constitution.

BACKGROUND

On Saturday, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) rejected the list of 10,000 successful applicants for constable and specialist cadre roles, which was released by the PSC on June 4.

Muyiwa Adejobi, the force spokesperson, said the recruitment exercise was marred by irregularities, including financial gratification.

Adejobi said the published list of successful constables contains the names of candidates who “failed either the computer-based test (CBT) or the physical screening exercise, or both”.

Adejobi said some of those disqualified over medical issues “also made the list of successful candidates as published by the PSC”.

On June 10, Tinubu sacked Solomon Arase as PSC chairman and replaced him with Hashimu Argungu, a retired police officer.

‘ARASE’S REMOVAL WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’

Adoyi said the allegation levelled against the commission by the police is a “deliberate effort to divert attention from the real issues at hand”.

The chairman of the PSC workers’ union alleged that the authorities are not prepared to open the police training schools despite the availability of funds.

Adoyi added that the police training schools that should have been used to accommodate the successful applicants are not in order.

“We have been furnished with reliable information indicating that elements within the police force attempted to smuggle over 1,000 names into the recruitment list,” Adoyi said.

“This manipulation was a grave breach of the recruitment process and a calculated attempt to undermine the credibility of the entire exercise.

“It is also instructive to note that the sequence of events that culminated in the release of the damning press release was a calculated attempt to discredit, disorganise and usurp the commission and its powers.

“Shortly after the commission released the list of successful candidates, the police authority wrote to the commission to express their trust in the recruitment exercise that they were part and parcel of from beginning to end.

“This was followed by the removal of the commission’s chairman out of a clandestine political conspiracy, alluding to baseless allegations.

“The third event in quick succession was the release that was out to subject the commission to a media trial without exhausting the official channels of communication.”