The chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), IGP Mike Okiro (retd), recently spoke to journalists in Abuja on the on-going recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). CHIZOBA OGBECHE looks at the processes of the exercise.
The recruitment exercise into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) yesterday entered its second stage with the screening of shortlisted candidates. Not a few Nigerians have questioned the mechanism put in the place the Police Service Commission (PSC) to effectively prune the over 300,000 shortlisted applicants to 10,000 as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The first stage of the exercise which commenced on April 1, 2016, with the opening of the recruitment portal, filling and submission of forms online, closed on May 13.
Addressing the media, Okiro said: “At the close of the recruitment portal, a total of 911,438 candidates had successfully applied for employment into the advertised three entry points into the NPF, Constable, Inspector and Assistant Superintendent of Police.”
He explained that the number included application from specialists, noting that:
“Out of this number, 262,426, applied for Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), 211,832, for Cadet Inspector, and 437,144, for Constables.”
According to him, “It was the decision of the commission that the recruitment exercise should be transparent with equal opportunities to all Nigerians who are interested in pursuing a career in the NPF.
“The commission was also of the belief that minimal person to person contact will reduce or eliminate extortion and unnecessary bottle necks in the process. We made it clear from the onset that the forms were free and this was stated on the forms and also on advertisement we placed for exercise.
“I had also emphasised during the unveiling of the portal that the portal has been structured in a way that there will be no short cut and that everybody must go on through due process.”
Okiro who expressed satisfaction that applicants were not exposed to extortion, stated however that the commission was able to intervene in some few places where desperate applicants own their own surrendered to fraudsters. The Police Service Commission (PSC) is to commence screening of 338,227 successful applicants shortlisted for the recruitment of 10,000 policemen into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Monday, June 6, 2016.
Speaking on the second stage of the exercise, he said: “With the closure of filling and submission of application forms, the commission is now ready to commence the recruitment exercise proper.
I want to announce that the state screening exercise will begin on Monday, June 6, 2016, throughout the 36 states and the FCT.
“338,227 successful applicants have been shortlisted electronically from the 911,438 that applied for the different positions advertised. Out of this number, 44,661 are for cadet Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP), 87,736 for Cadet Inspector and 205,830 for Constables.
“Invitation letters have been sent to the successful applicants for the state screening through SMS and to their email addresses. This invitation states the date each person’s screening and venue of the screening.”
He explained that: “Applicants will be grouped according to local governments and dates fixed for their screening. This is to avoid crowding the venue and also allow for meticulous screening.
“No candidate will be admitted into any venue or appear on any date other that those allocated to him/her. This will ensure that there will be no manipulation at this level, as all applicants will receive equal scrutiny.
While stressing that the initial short listing was done electronically, the commission’s boss, who disclosed that those who did not meet the requirements were weeded out by the computer, listed grounds for disqualification to include mismatch of certificates to declared vacancies, which applied mostly to specialists.
Others, he said included: wrong choice of cadre, physically unfit, year of birth earlier than 1988 for ASPs, 1991 for Constables, 1984 for specialists, whose entry age was raised to 32 taking into cognisance the longer period of training required for such courses.
Also, affected were applicants whose educational certificates, other than the First school Leaving certificate (FSLC), were earlier than 2007, graduates without NYSC discharge certificates and required five credits, including Mathematics and English as well as those with multiple applications.
Okiro explained that, “Only those who qualified for the second stage of the exercise were invited by the computer for physical screening,” which he said would not involve physical exercise to avoid any untoward incidents.
According to him, physical exercise like jugging would be in the training camps for successful candidates, given clean bill of health during the medical screening at the zonal stage of the exercise.
He said the physical screening would entail height measurement, chest measurement, speech impediment, defective eye sight, bow leg, knocked knee, flat feet, bent, deformed hands, gross malformation of teeth, bent knee as well as amputation of any part of the body.
The chairman explained that the physical screening would be followed by the next level which examines: alteration on academic and birth certificates, age declaration, incongruence between educational certificates and date of birth, statement of results more than five years old, invalid qualifications and proficiency certificates.
All the earlier stages, he said would be done at the state level while successful candidates would be invited to a zonal screening holding at the 12 zonal headquarters in the country.
The zonal screening, he said, would involve medical tests while the national interview in Abuja will climax the recruitment exercise where those who emerged from the zones would be interviewed and successful ones selected for training.
Okiro who emphasised that the commission would be guided by the rules, fair, transparent and ensure that the process is merit driven said: “I have severally warned that anybody that will be connected with this exercise, whether commission staff, the police and the applicants, caught undermining the integrity of the exercise will be dealt with in line with the extant rules.
“As a commission we have collectively and individually sworn to make this project a huge success. We appreciate the expectations and also aware of the challenges, but want to declare that we are ready and prepared to give Nigerians the best.
“We have been transparent since the filling and submission of forms started; we will remain transparent till the end of the exercise. I have directed that this exercise should be open so that both the media and Nigerians can follow the process.”
He further disclosed that: “All reports from the state commands will be signed by the state coordinator from PSC and the CP. Likewise reports at the zonal command will be signed by the commissioner from PSC and the zonal Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).
Okiro said supervision and signing of the report by superior officers is to create accountability and ensure unqualified candidates are allowed to the next stage and no qualified candidate is omitted.
He maintained that Nigeria Police needed the best especially now that the nation was engaged in several battles; noting that it is the duty of the commission to ensure that this presidential directive is successfully carried out.
