Photo caption: Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam
The Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam, is intervening in the ongoing face-off between the Police Service Commission and the Nigeria Police Force.
After concluding the recruitment, the PSC on June 4 released the list of 10,000 successful applicants for constable and specialist cadre roles in the Nigeria Police Force.
Eleven days later, the police rejected the list over the allegation that the exercise was marred by corruption and irregularities.
The statement by the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, read, “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.”
Following the action of the police, the commission’s union called for the removal of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, for misrepresenting facts on the recruitment.
The PSC in its first response on the matter, challenged the police to provide evidence to substantiate its claim that the recruitment exercise was characterized by corruption.
On June 25, the PSC Head of Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, stressed that the final list of successful candidates from the recruitment would never be cancelled, insisting that the exercise was done in accordance with relevant laws.
Speaking on the intervention by the minister, the Ministry of Police Affairs spokesperson, Bolaji Kazeem, on Friday told our correspondent that the minister was working to reconcile the two organisations.
He added that the minister would ensure that the issue did not spiral out of control.
Kazeem said, “Minister working underground to resolve the issue between the two organisations. He doesn’t want the matter to go out of hand.”
