The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticized the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Police Service Commission (PSC) over their ongoing conflict regarding the recruitment of ten thousand constables. In a statement released on Sunday and signed by National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described the dispute as unnecessary, particularly given the high levels of insecurity in the country.
HURIWA emphasized that the police hierarchy should focus on addressing pressing security challenges rather than engaging in a power struggle with the PSC. The organization highlighted that the PSC is an independent oversight body established by the Constitution to enhance the integrity and credibility of the police institution in Nigeria.
The statement expressed disappointment that the IGP has not recognized the PSC’s efforts to conduct recruitment exercises professionally and ethically through the use of technology for tests and verifications. HURIWA condemned the IGP’s rejection of the transparent recruitment system, viewing it as a demonstration of disregard for the Constitution and a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming the PSC’s exclusive mandate to recruit police personnel.
HURIWA denounced the public spat between the IGP and the PSC as a “show of shame,” arguing that the IGP, as the chief law enforcement officer, should respect the Constitution and judicial decisions above any quest for relevance or authority. The organization urged the police leadership to prioritize constitutional provisions and the nation’s security needs over internal disputes.
Onwubiko said, “We think the Police IGP should be concerned about correcting the inability of his police operatives to adequately protect Nigerians from criminals of all dimensions.”
“Yet we have a police inspector General whose focus is on who should be recruited or who should conduct recruitment exercise into the police even when the constitution and a decided case by the Supreme Court of Nigeria have answered such questions in support of the police service commission.”
“Our very honest counsel to the office of the IGP is to come down from the High horse and accept the legal fact that the Constitution has domiciled the powers of recruitment into the police force in the domain of the police service commission.”
“The IGP is not the moral police that is to govern the process of police recruitment since he is incapable of exercising such power that he hasn’t received from the constitution.”
“We read the toxic text of the press statement by the Force spokesman rejecting the list of police recruits and all that we see in the statement is the total disrespect and disregard for the constitution which has mandated the police service commission to recruit police operatives and the IGP has no role in the exercise of the powers of the police service commission and therefore it is illogical and a massive fallacy for the IGP whose office has nothing to do with the police service commission to now be the authority to say whether the process of recruiting of police operatives were wrong or right.”
“The rejection of the IGP of the list of police recruits is at best an exercise in futility, illegal and unconstitutional. If he has evidence of corruption in the recruitment exercise, then he should file a protest with the EFCC or ICPC but he has no power to reject the list of police recruits validly presented by the PSC which is a body permitted under the law to do so”, Onwubuiko added.
