Employees of the Police Service Commission (PSC) yesterday called for the immediate sack of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun for allegedly undermining the police recruitment process.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) and the Joint Union Congress (JUC) of the PSC made the call in Abuja.
Joint chairman, Adoyi Adoyi, at a briefing, expressed displeasure over what he described as a false allegation against the PSC.
Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, had issued a statement faulting the 10,000 constables recruitment process, saying it was marred with irregularities and corruption by the PSC.
Adoyi alleged it was rather elements within the police that attempted to smuggle over 1, 000 names into the recruitment list.
He said: “We call on President Tinubu to as a matter of urgency remove the IGP before he destroys his government over the false allegations.
“This act by the IGP is not good for this administration. The IGP should go.”
Adoyi maintained the recruitment of constables into the Police is the statutory responsibility of the PSC as enshrined in the Constitution, the PSC (Establishment, etc.) Act 2001 and affirmed by the Supreme Court.
He said the allegations were unfounded, spurious, speculative and irresponsible and were made without following the official channel of communication.
He added the allegation was a deliberate effort by the police to divert attention from their non-preparedness to train the recruits.
“The wild allegation of fraud levelled against the commission is a deliberate effort to divert the attention of the public from the real issues at hand.
“The Nigeria Police Force seeks to leverage this allegation to divert attention from their non-preparedness to open the Police Training Schools for the successful recruits, despite the availability of funds for the exercise.
“Their unwillingness to deploy funds as appropriated for the training schools must be investigated,” he said.
Adoyi urged the Police to come clean and submit itself to accountability and probity.
The chairman called for a forensic review of both the commission’s list and the one the Police sought to foist on the recruitment board.
Adoyi said: “This will help to ascertain the veracity of the allegation and determine where the truth lies.
“Our actions are, however, being guided by the principles of transparency, integrity, and the rule of law.
“It is important to note, however, that the PSC 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 queries to the Nigeria Police.”