The Nigerian Senate has called for the suspension of the Police recruitment exercise that ought to see 10,000 personnel joining the Nigerian Police force.
The senate is citing irregularities as the major reason for suspending the exercise claiming that the initial criteria for requirement had been abandoned by the Police Service Commission. The commission which is in charge of the recruitment has now put it on hold following an order from the Senate Police Committee.
Meanwhile, the committee had already shortlisted 110,469 applicants for aptitude tests set to hold in August across the country.The applicants set to write the exams include Cadet ASPs, 22,454, comprising 10,290 general duties and 12,164 specialists. The committee sent a letter on Thursday the 6th of October to suspend the exercise, copying President Muhammadu Buhari in a bid to draw his attention to the alleged irregularities.
The President ordered the recruitment of 10,000 police officers more than a year ago. The recruitment was supposed to be based on applicants being selected based on local government areas but sources said the PSC decided to base the exercise on equal numbers per state, citing orders from above.
When contacted,the spokesman of the PSC, Mr Ikechukwu Ani said the recruitment exercise had not been suspended. He also added that the exercise was still on, explaining that the officials of the commission just finished a field exercise on the recruitment process. Mr. Ani noted that the commission had been partnering with the police on the recruitment into both the constable and senior officers’ cadre.