Sack IG Egbetokun Now, PSC Union Tells Tinubu

Ikechukwu Aleke in Abuja 

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the Inspector General of Police (IG), Kayode Egbetokun for peddling falsehood and misinformation about the ongoing 2022/23 Police Constable Recruitment exercise by the commission. 

The IG Egbetokun had earlier alleged irregularities and corruption in the recently released names of successful candidates in the ongoing 2022/23 Police Constables Recruitment exercise.

Egbetokun further alleged that 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 exercise.

But addressing a press conference at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja Wednesday, the Joint Union Congress of the Police Service Commission (PSC) accused Egbetokun of misinforming President Tinubu about the recruitment process. 

Speaking on behalf of the Joint Union, the Chairman, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Adoyi Augustine Adoyi, said the allegations of fraud and several other unwholesome acts levelled against the Commission and its staff were unfounded, spurious, speculative and irresponsible, especially the way the allegations were thrown into the public space, even before official channel of communication for dealing with such a matter was explored. 

Adoyi said: “We begin this press conference with a clarion call on the president and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, to immediately relieve the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, of his appointment as IGP. Our concern comes from the fact that a public officer who misleads the president is causing confusion in the country and may lead to chaos which is antithetical to his duty as a police officer.

“His attitude has become only a replica of the Biblical Haman, who in deceiving his principal, wanted to wipe out an entire nation but for the tiny intervention of God. So we call on the president to responsibly relieve him of his duties for the following reasons.”

Adoyi also alleged that some elements within the police force attempted to smuggle over 1,000 names into the recruitment list, hence the smear campaign against the Commission. 

According to him, “We have been furnished with reliable information indicating that elements within the Police Force attempted to smuggle over 1,000 names into the recruitment list. This manipulation was a grave breach of the recruitment process and a calculated attempt to undermine the credibility of the entire exercise.”

The Commission further reiterated its call for a forensic review of both the Commission’s list and the list the police force sought to foist on the recruitment board. 

“This will help to ascertain the veracity of the allegation and determine where the truth lies. It is important to note however, that the Police Service Commission does not answer queries from the Nigeria Police Force. 

“On the contrary and based on its constitutional and statutory mandate, it is the Commission that should be issuing query to the Nigeria Police Force for infractions related to those mandates. Having made this clear, we insist that the proposed forensic review must be carried out by an appropriate and independent authority, with proven expertise in forensic investigation and data analysis,” Adoyi said. 

He further called on Tinubu to cancel the appointment of Chief Onyemuche Nnamani as the Secretary of the Commission, insisting that his appointment violated section 10 (1) (a) of Police Service Commission Establishment Act (2001), which provides that: “To be qualified as secretary of the Police Service Commission, the nominee must be an officer in the civil service of the federation, not below the rank of a permanent secretary”. 

He concluded that Nnamani is neither a civil servant in the civil service of the federation nor is he a permanent secretary in the service.