Some states have kicked against the alleged lopsided allocation of slots by the police authorities in the ongoing recruitment of 10,000 constables. The list of successful candidates indicates that Nasarawa, the home state of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had the highest number, with 528 candidates, followed by Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari’s state, with 435 candidates.
This is happening against the backdrop of the recruitment scandal rocking the National Assembly in which job slots were given to lawmakers by federal agencies and ministries. Saturday PUNCH gathered that Borno and Bauchi states had complained to the Police Service Commission about the observed discrepancies in the candidates’ list released by the police on their website last Sunday.
It was learnt that the states were directed to put their complaints in writing after they pointed out that they were short-changed in the exercise which awarded the highest slots of 528 to Nasarawa, which has 13 local government areas.
Based on the approved allocation of 12 candidates per local government, Nasarawa was meant to get 156 slots instead of 528 recorded in the published list. Borno State with 27 local government areas had 274 candidates instead of 324, while Bauchi with 20 local government areas was given 232 slots instead of its entitled 240 candidates.
An analysis carried out by the Police Service Commission revealed that 372 candidates out of the 528 recruited from Nasarawa State did not apply for the job, but were allegedly included in the list.
Findings show that each local government area was supposed to get 12 slots, but investigations indicated that the police authorities did not give the states their due slots as the figures were allocated indiscriminately without regard for the number of local government areas in each state.
The document showed that Bauchi was short-changed by eight slots as it got 232 candidates instead of 240 while 43 illegal names were allegedly smuggled into the final list. The analysis further revealed that 40 candidates who did not take part in the recruitment process were allegedly added to the Cross River list while 48 illegal names were included in the Federal Capital Territory slot. For Benue, the list was padded with 87 names, giving the state 363 instead of 276; Kogi had extra 52 slots and got 304 instead of its entitled 252; Kwara suffered a shortfall of 23 and got 169 slots instead of 192.
Niger had 96 extra candidates and received 396 slots instead of its entitled 300, while Plateau got 208 instead of 204. Others are Adamawa which deserved 252, but was given 249 slots; Gombe which was entitled to 132, however, got 171; Taraba was allocated 211 against the 192 it was entitled to while Yobe was short-changed by 49 slots as it received 155 instead of 204 candidates.
The list showed that Jigawa was deprived of 44 slots as it was given 280 positions, while Kaduna had extra 31 candidates, giving the state 307 slots instead of 276. Kano State was allegedly cheated by 125 slots as it was awarded 403 positions instead of its deserved 528. Kebbi had an excess of 20 candidates, getting 272 candidates instead of 252.
Sokoto with 23 council areas lost 84 slots as the police list awarded it 192 rather than the 276 it was entitled to based on the 12 slots per local government area. Zamfara with 14 local government areas was short-changed by 39 slots as it was given 129 instead of 168 slots. The analysis further revealed that Abia was short-changed by 18 slots as the police list gave it 186 instead of 204 slots; Anambra was deprived of 60 slots as it had 192 candidates instead of the 252 the state was entitled to.
Other states were similarly short-changed as they were not given their deserved slots based on the number of their local government areas. The commission also discovered that the North Central region with 121 local government areas was given 2,088 slots instead of the 1,452 it was entitled to leaving an excess of 659. The North-East with 112 local government areas was allocated 1,292 slots while it was entitled to 1,344. It was deprived of 52 slots.
The North-West with 186 council areas had 2,018 candidates, though it was entitled to 2,232 men. The commission further found out that the South-East was deprived of 161 slots. The zone was awarded 979 slots instead of 1,140.
The South-South region was allocated 1,253 slots instead of 1,476, suffering a loss of 223 slots. The South-West had a shortage of 238 slots as the region had 1,406 candidates instead of 1,644.
The shortlisted candidates have been invited for training at the 18 police colleges and training schools across the country and are expected to resume on October 21, 2019.
They were asked to report at the police training schools with two pairs of white shorts and socks, two pairs of white round neck vests and canvass, two pairs of white pillowcases and bedsheets, sportswear, mosquito net, cutlery, broom, cutlass, bucket as well as the original and photocopies of their credentials and eight recent passport photographs.
Our correspondent gathered that the candidates were not issued the required unique number usually allocated to police trainees by the PSC.
The police are, however, pressing ahead with the exercise despite the legal challenge being mounted against the recruitment by the commission which filed an originating summons and interlocutory injunction restraining the IG from going ahead with the exercise. The processes, filed by Kanu Agabi (SAN), would be heard by the Federal High Court 5 on October 23.
The commission had dissociated itself from the list of candidates released by the police, describing it as “an act of illegality.”
The commission’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement urged the public to ignore the list, adding that it would soon release the authentic one. It said, “The commission notes that the list released by the police is an act of illegality and from close observation is in serious breach of the Federal Character requirements.
“The commission urges the public to be wary of the list as it will soon resume the remaining stages of the recruitment process and release the authentic list of successful candidates, local government by local government.”
Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the commission may query the Commandant, Nigeria Police Academy, Wudi, Kano, AIG Zanna Ibrahim, for releasing the list of candidates who gained admission into the school without the PSC’s authorisation.
A source said, “The commission learnt that the commandant has released the admission list of successful candidates and he would be queried for doing this without the board’s approval.
“The commandant is our employee and would be sanctioned for his act of misconduct and insubordination.”
The force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, could not be reached for comment on Friday over the alleged discrepancies observed in the constables’ list published by the force. Punch
Pix: Ispector Gneral of Police, Mohammed Adamu
