The Police Service Commission (PSC) has challenged the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to provide evidence to support the allegations peddled against it regarding the recruitment of constables.

In a Friday statement by its Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, the PSC noted that it was obvious that the NPF was out to malign its reputation.

“The Commission has at every turn suffered several indignities in its attempt to perform functions provided to it by the Constitution even after the Supreme Court decided the matter in its favour.

“That this show of brute force and intimidation by the Police and most recently inducements of hired writers to run down the Commission in the Media is a serious affront to the mandate of the Commission.

“The Commission has studied the issues around this successfully concluded recruitment exercise and has concluded that even after the Supreme Court Judgment, the Police is reluctant to allow the Commission to perform this constitutional assignment.

“The Commission demands that the Police should provide verifiable evidence to prove the allegations peddled against it as it is obvious that it is a case of giving a dog a bad name to hang it,” it said.

The police had, in a statement on Saturday by the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, rejected the names of those recruited by the commission.

Adejobi added that the PSC portal was scrutinised, and it was discovered that “several names of persons purported to be names of successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not take part in the recruitment exercise”.

The Joint Union Congress of the PSC had vehemently denied the allegations and later demanded the removal of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun.

On Thursday, Egbetokun denied having any grouse to settle with the PSC, adding that his action was to ensure qualified people were recruited into the force.

Responding to Egbetokun, the PSC said due process was meticulously followed throughout the exercise, asserting its prerogative to exercise full control over recruitments into the NPF.

The commission also insisted that its list of successful candidates and that of the police should be subjected to a forensic audit using the result of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) computer-based test.

Ani stressed that in the Supreme Court Judgment delivered on July 11, 2023, which gave the power to recruit to the commission there was no role given to the police.

This claim was contrary to what the IGP earlier said.

Egbetokun had noted that while the Supreme Court gave the PSC the power to recruit, it, however, did not order the exclusion of the force from the process.

He said, “It is relevant to state that the judgment and even the Constitution did not give the Police any role in the recruitment of any cadre of Officers into the Police Force”.

Ani noted that while the police attributed their inability to perform to poor recruitment practices, the previous recruitment by the police is hindering their ability to discharge their duties effectively.

“It is unfortunate that the Police has attributed its obvious failure to protect lives and properties and safeguard our nation from banditry and terrorism to bad recruitment,” the statement read.

“This claim is self-indicting and provocative. Since 2019 when the Police forcefully snatched the exercise from the Commission, they have gone ahead against the provisions of the law to Superintendent over the 2020 and 2021 exercises.

“It is the fraudulent Recruits they brought into the system during these exercises that are currently haunting the Nigeria Police Force.”

Ani called on President Bola Tinubu to caution Egbetokun to respect the constitutional mandate of the commission.

He said, “It is the considered opinion of the Commission that the successful candidates should be allowed to proceed on training without delay.”

“The Commission wishes to appeal to Mr. President to protect it and rein in the Nigeria Police Force to respect the Constitutional Mandate of the Commission to recruit. The Nigeria Police Force is created to enforce the law and not to circumvent it in whatever guise.”