Appeal Court nullifies IGP’s recruitment of 10,000 constables
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday nullified the recruitment of 10,000 constables carried out last year by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.
A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Olabisi Ige unanimously held that the IGP lacked the power to recruit constables for the police force.
The court held that the power to carry out the recruitment was exclusively that of the Police Service Commission.
The judgment upturned the December 2, 2019 verdict of the Federal High Court in Abuja which had validated the power of the IGP to proceed with the recruitment of 10,000 he embarked upon in 2019.
The PSC, in a superiority battle with the IPG, had in September 2019, instituted the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1124/2019, in its bid to gain the exclusive right to conduct the recruitment process which the NPF and the IGP, had as of that time, almost concluded.
The commission asked the Federal High Court judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, to nullify the process already commenced by the NPF and the IGP.
It urged the court to declare it as the body with the exclusive powers to carry out the recruitment process.
But the judge in his judgment delivered on December 2, 2019, dismissed PSC’s case which he adjudged to be lacking in merit.
He ruled that the law guiding the enlistment of constables into the NPF was the Nigeria Police Regulations of 1968, issued by the Nigerian President in accordance with the provisions of Section 46 of the Police Act 1967 (No 41), providing for the organisation and administration of the police force.
He noted that section 71 of the said Nigeria Police Service Regulations, 1968, gave the power to enlist constables to the Police Council and the NPF under the control of the IGP, and not the PSC.
He ruled that PSC by its enabling law retained the exclusive powers to promote, demote, dismiss and discipline any police officer apart from the IGP, it could only appoint constables after the recruitment exercise carried out by the NPF. Punch
