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According to Sunday PUNCH, the Police Service Commission and the Nigerian Police Force are now in discussions about hiring more police constables.
The PSC’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani, announced the news to our correspondent on Saturday and noted that there is cooperation between the two sister organizations.
“Discussions between the PSC and the police are ongoing. Police constable recruitment is a topic of discussion, and it will likely start shortly, according to Ani.
Remember how Olukayode Egbetokun, the acting Inspector-General of Police, stated the NPF needed to hire over 190,000 police constables to operate more effectively?
Speaking at an event with the theme “Role of the NPF, Industrialization, and Climate Change” at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Jos, Egbetokun stated that the NPF needed a minimum of 190,000 new recruits, 1,000 armored personnel carriers, and 250,000 assault rifles with the corresponding ammunition.
He added that 2,000,000 tear gas canisters and smoke grenades, 200,000 riot guns and smoke pistols, 1,000 tracking devices, and 774 operational drones are needed to increase capacity in promoting a secure environment for industrialization. He also noted that the lack of these resources has continued to limit the effectiveness of police activities.
In the meantime, the PSC reported last week that the Supreme Court had decided in its favor to give it entire responsibility for hiring constables for the NPFF.
According to Sunday PUNCH, 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 new constables annually for six years.
The PSC spokesman, Ani, claimed in a letter last Sunday that on July 11, 2023, the highest court in the land will have resolved the difficult matter and debate between the commission and the police.
The Certified True Copy of the aforementioned judgment was not available to The PUNCH when our correspondent requested it on Sunday because Ani was unable to do so.
Ani stated that the Supreme Court “unequivocally pronounced” the commission as an entity with a statutory mandate to do so in the judgment, quoting Solomon Arase, Chairman of the PSC, as saying the decision was made in the interest of national security.
However, the PSC spokeswoman clarified that efforts toward an amicable resolution of the dispute between the two crucial institutions were already on and advanced stage before to the judgment.
Ani said that the legal dispute between the two parties was embarrassing to the government and other stakeholders because it could have been avoided and it was a matter that called for understanding, respect, and compromise.
He said that Arase, the head of the commission, was quoted as saying that the verdict “simply and legally cements”
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 across governmental institutions.
Therefore, it is crucial that everyone involved de-escalate and avoid all types of hostilities, misconceptions, biases, and prejudices against one another that formed the foundation of the relationship between the Commission and the NPF that has been characterized as a no love lost one thus far.
Arase was reported by Ani as having remarked, “He noted that the unnecessary imbrogilo impacted negatively on the staff of the Police Service Commission and officers and other ranks of the Nigeria Police Force.”
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 players, and that it will shortly 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 spokeswoman further stated.
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