According to the Police Service Commission, the Supreme Court has given it permission to be the only entity in charge of hiring constables for the Nigeria Police Force.
According to reports, the PSC and the NPF have been involved in a protracted legal dispute over who should be in charge of hiring police constables since former President Muhammadu Buhari approved the hiring of 10,000 constables annually for six years.
Ikechukwu Ani, the PSC’s spokesman, claimed in a letter sent on Sunday that on July 11, 2023, the highest court in the land would rule on the contentious matter and put an end to the dispute between the commission and the police.
They were unable to obtain the Certified True Copy of the aforementioned judgment, however, because Ani was unable to do so when our correspondent asked for it on Sunday.
“In the judgment, the Supreme Court ‘unequivocally pronounced’ the commission as an agency statutorily mandated to do so,” Ani said, quoting Solomon Arase, Chairman of the PSC, who claimed the ruling was in the national security’s best interest.
However, the PSC spokesperson clarified that efforts to reach an amicable resolution of the dispute between the two crucial institutions were already underway and advanced at the time of the judgment.
Ani continued by saying that it was extremely embarrassing for the government and other stakeholders for the two parties, who should cooperate and work together, to get into such a needless legal dispute over a matter that called for understanding, respect, and compromise.
He added that the judgment “simply and legally cements the resolution of the issue in a win-win situation for the two institutions, which ordinarily cannot effectively function and deliver on their respective mandates without cooperation with each other.” He cited the boss of the commission, Arase, for this statement.
Therefore, it must be stated and demonstrated that the judgment is rendered in the overall best interest of our national security. This underlines the urgent requirement for positive working relationships and mutual trust among governmental agencies.
Therefore, it is crucial that everyone involved de-escalate and avoid all hostilities, misconceptions, preconceptions, and prejudices against one another that were the foundation of the relationship between the Commission and the NPF that was previously characterized as a no love-lost one.
Arase was quoted by Ani as having said, “He noted that the unnecessary imbroglio impacted negatively on the staff of the Police Service Commission and officers and other ranks of the Nigeria Police Force.”
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He added that Arase had stated that a recruitment board had been established, that it would be chaired by the PSC chairman, comprised of other pertinent stakeholders, and that it would soon be inaugurated.
“The board will screen and ensure that only capable and qualified members of the public are recruited into the NPF, reflecting also the principle of Federal Character,” the PSC spokesperson further stated.
