The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, has ordered a nationwide compilation of the nominal rolls of all Inspectors qualified for promotion to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
The directive, contained in a police wireless message from the Force Secretary’s office with reference number CB:4001/FS/FHQ/ABJ/V.T2/23, marks the commencement of a departmental selection board exercise aimed at advancing senior non-commissioned officers.
According to the signal, dated March 13, which obtained on Tuesday, the IGP “directs you to forward a comprehensive nominal roll of all Inspectors serving in your command” who were “Promoted: 2019, 2020” and “Confirmed: 2021, 2022”. 
The message, which was marked as “M/IMMEDIATE” and “VERY IMPORTANT,” further instructed all state commands and formations to ensure the lists are “strictly on seniority” and include the “Inspectorate APER forms” for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
However, the exercise has sparked a wave of protests among affected officers who described the current promotion timeline as “demoralizing stagnation.”
Several Inspectors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, lamented that they have remained on the same rank for eight years.
Those promoted to the rank of Inspector in 2018 noted that they are only being considered for the rank of ASP in 2026.
“They are requesting for the data of inspectors promoted 2019 for the promotion to the rank of ASP while those of us promoted to inspector rank in the year 2018… are pleading with the force and PSC (Police Service Commission) to backdate our promotion to 2024,” one of the affected officers stated.
The aggrieved officers argued that their demand for backdating is based on a precedent set during the 2025 promotion exercise.
They claimed that during that period, the authorities “backdated to 2023” the promotions of those advanced last year.
The officers are now calling on the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the IGP to rectify the eight-year wait on a single rank to ensure career progression is consistent with previous administrative actions.
Commanders and heads of formations have been given until April 30, 2026, to submit the requested data in both “Excel format, both hard and soft copies (flash),” and via a dedicated email address.
The signal concluded with a warning that the “INGENPOL [is] pressing” for the returns and that the exercise must be treated with the utmost urgency.
