A Commissioner at the Police Services Commission (PSC) has carpeted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Alkali Baba for allegedly hijacking the commission’s recruitment and promotion duties, leaving his staff unemployed.
“The IGP and his team have gone against the gentleman agreement we had we them. The police and IGP are giving Nigeria impression that they are carrying out the present recruitment in conjunction with PSC, but it is not true. They advertised for the job on their website rather than the PSC website.
The commissioner, who prefers to be anonymous, reacted to the protest by Commission staff. He noted that the board would convene on Monday to address issues raised by civil servants demanding the immediate dismissal of its chairman, Musiliu Smith. He said police management violated the agreement the man reached with them to jointly conduct recruitment exercises and proceed to hire police only.
“The IGP is carrying out discipline, recruitment and promotions, which are the core mandate of the commission. They don’t want the commission to carry out its constitutional mandate. The former IGP took us to court and court gave judgment in our favour.
“We have cooperated with them, but they have not been fair to us. The staff have rights to protest because police has taken over their jobs and they are not happy about it. The IGP have to restore the mandate of the commission. Our powers are enshrined in the constitution and not Act. The staff are aggrieved that their duties have been taken from them without the board taking any action,” he said.
Activities at the Police Services Commission (PSC) were suspended on Thursday at Abuja’s federal secretariat after commission staff protested alleged corruption and incompetence since former Inspector General of Police (Rtd.) Musliu Smith took over as chairman. The protesters reportedly locked up the Permanent Secretary, Williams Alo and the other Commissioners and Directors, chanting an anti-Musliu Smith song.
SKJ