NPF-PSC’s endless clashes

IN recent weeks, and in typical fashion, a  fresh cold war has been brewing between the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) headquarters and the Police Service Commission (PSC) over the recruitment of police constables. Following an announcement by the PSC  calling for applications by suitable persons into the force to serve as constables, the NPF issued a statement signed by the Force PRO, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, informing “well-meaning members of the public” that it had not commenced the 2022 constables’ recruitment exercise. Adejobi said: “The Nigeria Police Force wishes to inform well-meaning members of the public that it has not commenced the 2022 Police Constables recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force contrary to a publication on Page 21 of Daily Sun newspaper of Thursday, August 11, 2022 by the Police Service Commission (PSC). The police similarly state unequivocally that the advert has no connection with the Nigeria Police Force nor is it in tandem with the police recruitment process, and should be disregarded in all its entirety. The website to which the publication refers intending candidates – http://www.recruitment.psc.gov.ng – is not associated with the Nigeria Police Force.”

The NPF, therefore, called on all stakeholders and intending applicants to discountenance the information in both the newspaper and on the portal as the website is not the official portal for police constables’ recruitment. It assured “well-meaning Nigerians” that the commencement of the 2022 recruitment exercise would be announced via the official police e-recruitment website, namely: https://policerecruitment.gov.ng, the Nigeria Police Force official website, https://www.npf.gov.ng, and advertisements in national dailies and official police social media accounts. Following the NPF’s reaction, the PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, told newsmen that the commission had taken note of the NPF’s publication with regard to the 2022 constable recruitment exercise. He expressed the commission’s belief that all contending issues between the two parties would be resolved in the interest of the nation. He advised all interested applicants and other Nigerians desirous of a career in the NPF to exercise patience while these issues were being resolved, stating that the commission would continue to strive to give Nigerians a Police Force they would be proud of.

It is indeed distressing that a critical security organ like the NPF, the primary agency saddled with the internal security of Nigeria, is perpetually at war with the agency that is expected to handle appointments into, and promotion of personnel in, the force. They have been on a collision course for years and we have said it before.  The NPF habitually attacks the PSC while the latter also gets into disputes with it. Among other functions, the Act establishing the commission says that it “shall be responsible for the appointment and promotion of persons to offices (other than the office of the Inspector-General of Police) in the Nigeria Police Force; dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over persons (other than the IG) and formulate policies and guidelines for the appointment, promotion, discipline and dismissal of officers of the Nigeria Police Force.” The individual mandates of these organisations are unambiguous based on the laws guiding their existence, activities and operations even if those functions are necessarily interwoven and directed at achieving the common goal of effective policing. That being the case, the two agencies should ideally be collaborating rather than engaging in unhealthy rivalry and sabotaging each other’s efforts. Incidentally, the PSC is headed by a former IGP, which should ordinarily make effective collaboration and cooperation easy and seamless.

In our view, the perennial supremacy tussle is clearly underlined by ego trip, which is nothing but a disservice to the country and the citizens.  There is a manifest indiscipline here that needs to be addressed decisively, lest the situation degenerates even further. The NPF seems to abhor any kind of relationship with the PSC, which is strange given the clear provisions of the law. The perennial struggle and tussle for supremacy between the PSC and the NPF speaks to the lack of focus and decisiveness, and to the apparent disarray characterising governance. This situation has been responsible for under-achievement, if not outright failure, by the government for so long.  Certainly, there are laws guiding the operations of these two government institutions. The laws provide for interactions and interrelationships between the two organs. And in any case, these institutions do not exist in a vacuum: they are part of the structures of government. This means that they are responsible to higher authorities in government which should ensure that they follow the rules setting them up while calling them to order when they err. In virtually every government issue, the buck stops at a table, which should ensure that there are no petty and avoidable clashes and supremacy tussles. The fact that this continues to happen with regard to the PSC and the NPF means that the whole government edifice is being defectively run.

There ought not to be problems about who should supervise the recruitment of police constables as this ought to be clear from the laws setting up the two organs and the interpretation of the laws by their supervisory authority. The fact that nobody calls these organs to order suggests that nobody is really in charge of governance in the country, and this is really unfortunate. It is time those saddled with the responsibility of governance in the country sat up and saved Nigerians from meaningless clashes and supremacy tussles like the one between the PSC and the NPF. What Nigerians need is focused delivery and performance of mandates under the right kind of supervision. This is what real governance is all about and it is what Nigerians expect.

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