The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Thursday, denied that there is any conflict between the police and the Police Service Commission over the recently concluded recruitment exercise.
This is as he also said that as the Inspector General Police of the largest police force in Africa, he has to ensure quality recruitment into the police.
The police in a statement on Saturday by the Force Spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, had rejected the list of successful candidates released by the commission, adding that it was marred by corruption and other irregularities.
In response, the Joint Union Congress of the Police Service Commission chairman, Adoyi Adoyi, on the same day, denied the allegations and accused the police of a failed attempt to smuggle names into the list released by the commission.
On Wednesday, Adoyi called for the removal of the IGP for wrongly accusing the commission.
Speaking on during a meeting with commanders in Abuja, the IGP said the police had no problem with the supreme court judgement giving the authority to recruit to the PSC.
Egbetokun noted that while the Supreme Court gave the PSC the power to recruit, it, however, did not order the exclusion of the force from the process.
He said, “The wise men sitting at the Supreme Court, while ruling on the controversial and questionable issue surrounding police recruitment, gave the final authority to the police to the Police Service Commission. There is no problem with that.
‘’The judgment of the Supreme Court is sound, clear, and unambiguous. The issue lies elsewhere. The Supreme Court in its wisdom, recognising that the police is the end user of this recruitment, did not exclude the police from participating in the recruitment exercise into the police force.
“So it is expected that while recruiting into the police force by the commission, the police will be carried along.“
Egbetokun said what he was doing was to ensure the right set of people were recruited into the force.
He said, “The Inspector General Police of Nigeria leads the largest police force in Africa. Over 300,000 officers and men look up to him for guidance and leadership. He cannot sit down and look on and see how recruitment into the police force is anyhow. He cannot afford to disappoint the officers and men that he is leading. He has to ensure quality recruitment into the police.
“And that includes quality participation of the police in the recruitment exercise. And that is exactly what we are doing. We are doing everything possible to make sure that qualified and capable individuals are recruited into the police.
“The problems we are having with the police now start with the recruitment. If we don’t pay attention to recruitment, a disaster is awaiting us. We can’t sit here as members of the force management team and allow that to happen.
“So there is no fight between the police and the Police Service Commission. The police will play their role. The Police Service Commission will play its role We recognize the power of the Commission to recruit for the police. We respect that power. What we are doing is not prejudiced against the powers of the Police Service Commission to recruit for the police. So there is no fight between the police and the Police Service Commission. The police will play their role. The Police Service Commission will play their role.”
Egbetokun stated that the police’s actions did not infringe upon the PSC’s authority to recruit for the police force.
He said, “We recognize the power of the Commission to recruit for the police. We respect that power. What we are doing is not prejudiced against the powers of the Police Service Commission to recruit for the police. So we have to be careful with the kind of people we recruit into the police. And that’s what we are saying. So we are not fighting anybody. We are not fighting.
“I won’t respond to a call for my remover. Anybody can call for my remover.
Anybody who doesn’t like me can come out tomorrow and say, remove the IG. That’s not a problem. We are all entitled to our opinion.”
Addressing the Rivers State crisis concerning the extension of the Local Government Chairmen’s tenure, Egbetokun said the barricade mounted would be removed after the court delivers its verdict.
He said, “You are all aware that in what happened three days ago, we lost a police inspector. We are sad about that. We don’t want to lose more men. We don’t want to lose more Nigerians. We don’t want to lose more citizens of Rivers State. So we have a duty to prevent the breakdown of law and order.
“And that’s why we have our men taking over the secretariat while we await the outcome of the case in court. As soon as the court makes its pronouncement, we will remove the barricade. Thank you.“