Police recruitment: PSC chairman, Arase, visits screening centres in FCT, others

The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr Solomon Arase has declared the ongoing Police recruitment exercise which comes to an end this weekend across the federation a huge success.

This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday by the Spokesperson of the Commission Mr Ikechukwu Ani.

According to the statement, Dr Arase has already visited four centres, Zone 5 in Benin, Zone 7 in Abuja, Zone 1 in Kano, and Zone 14 in Katsina, and will be in Zone 2 in Lagos and Zone 11 in Osogbo this week as the exercise winds up.

“In the course of his tour, he also visited some stakeholders, which included the former President, Muhamnadu Buhari, the Emir of Daura Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk and many others“. 

It explained that Dr Arase said the Commission had ensured that the ongoing recruitment exercise had the buy-in of relevant stakeholders so that at the end of the exercise “We would have recruited young Nigerians who will have the endorsement of Nigerians.

According to the statement, “He noted that this was the reason the Commission set up an independent Recruitment Board which is made up of representatives of the Police Service Commission, Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Police Affairs, Federal Character Commission, Police Trust Fund and Police Colleges.  

The PSC Chairman said that the exercise has been a huge success, adding that at last Nigerian youths are now desirous to join the Nigeria Police Force and contribute to the fight to save Nigeria.

He noted that a new template for recruitment in Nigeria which gives room for collective and inclusive participation has been put in place by the Commission and which he is recommending to other Agencies of Government. 

It added that Dr Arase also commended the Police Recruitment Board for its forthrightness and commitment to the national assignment.

“He noted that in the places he visited, there was visible enthusiasm by the youths to be counted in this new effort to improve policing in Nigeria. “We will not take this enthusiasm for granted as the Commission will ensure that fairness, equity, and merit will remain the basis for the final selection“.

It further added that Dr Arase, however, warned that the desperate applicants should not cave into untoward pressure by fraudsters and even officials at the screening centres to pay money for a place in the final list and that there would be consequences for any staff of the Commission or Police Officer found to have compromised in the course of this exercise. 

The statement added that the Chairman of the Recruitment Board, Chief Onyemuche Nnamani, a Commissioner in the PSC had also visited some zones including Zone 13 in Ukpo Anambra and Zone 9 Umuahia Abia, and had confirmed that the exercise received the endorsement of Nigerians.