The Nigeria Police Force has expressed serious concerns about corruption and irregularities in the recently released list of successful candidates for the 2022/23 Police Constables Recruitment Exercise.

According to a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police discovered several issues after carefully scrutinizing the list published on the Police Service Commission portal.

They found that many individuals who never applied, candidates who failed the Computer Based Test, and those screened out for medical reasons were included in the final list of successful candidates.

“Upon careful scrutiny of the list released on the PSC portal, it was discovered that several names of persons purported to be successful candidates are those who did not even apply and therefore did not take part in the recruitment exercise,” Adejobi stated.

“Also, the published list contains several names of candidates who failed either the Computer Based Test or the physical screening exercise or both. There are also those who were found medically unfit but made the list of successful candidates as published by the PSC.”

The PSC had announced on June 4 that it approved and released a list of 10,000 successful applicants for recruitment into the constable and specialist cadres.

However, the Inspector General of Police issued a letter of objection to the list on June 10, highlighting these irregularities.

Adejobi further explained, “Most worrisome is the allegation of financial dealings and corrupt practices leading to the outcome where unqualified and untrainable individuals have been shortlisted.”

The reaction of the Inspector General of Police, while respecting the PSC’s power to recruit for the police as ruled by the Supreme Court, emphasized that this power does not include recruiting unqualified individuals. “It is the Police that bears the brunt of the recruitment of unqualified individuals and not the PSC,” Adejobi noted. “The same people who recruited anyhow for the police today will turn around to accuse the police tomorrow of inefficiency when their recruits start messing up.”

The Nigeria Police Force has dissociated itself from the published list and called for a transparent and credible review process. The leadership of the Police Service Commission, following the Supreme Court ruling on its recruitment powers, had set up a Joint Recruitment Board. However, this board was reportedly undermined and did not consent to the final list.

“The Nigeria Police Force takes exception to this unpleasant development and calls for a total review of the process with a view to recruiting qualified, competent, trainable, and productive hands into the Nigeria Police Force, in line with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration on police reform,” Adejobi said.

The police have assured that they are committed to ensuring a thorough review of the process to benefit the Nigeria Police and the country as a whole.