Police Service Commission In Monumental Bribery Allegation -Why Commission Must Be Repositioned

Promotion is no doubt a means to encourage and reward hardworking and deserving staff. It is also a guarantee for career growth. Although, it is an entitlement for serving personnel that are due, it also serves as morale booster for all personnel.

The Police Service Commission is the only agency constitutionally saddled with the responsibility to approve, promote, dismiss, check the excesses, etc of members of the Nigeria Police Force.

Suffice to say that the PSC is expected to be, to a large extent, is devoid of blame and exemplary.

Unfortunately that is not the case as the Commission is alleged to have jettisoned standards by engaging in collecting bribes for promotion, exonerating officers reported to be complicit in professional misconduct etc.

They do this by way of assigning themselves slots for promotion, which is an aberration. This is unknown to the law establishing the PSC.

The six commissioners, all directors and deputy directors share slots to themselves where in they later sell same to interested members of the force

They went as far as using the police profession at the expense of nation building, share promotion slots to first class chiefs, Governors, Senators, etc.

Where is this done? In which country on this planet earth will human beings be this callous, reckless and deliberate in killing an institution such as the police.

They also demand monies to exonerate officers alleged to be involved in sharp practices.

This is said to be eating deep into the morale of officers as it is obvious that there is no more reward for gallantry or exemplary acts of integrity that will send serious message of encouragement to other officers as envisaged in the Public Service Rules and the Police Act and Regulations.

Rather, officers are said to be encouraged to please people in authority as such category of individuals can lobby promotion and other benefits such as “lucrative postings” for them and guarantee their unhindered career growths.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has however, been called upon to cause investigation into the recent and other past scandalous promotions (including that of Dec, 2020), the ones giving to the aides of the Vice President and the wife of the President.

They should request for the justification for each of the promotees on the special promotion lists. The abuse of the provision for special promotion must be stopped.

The President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, the DSS, the NASS, Civil Society Organizations, Head of Service are all enjoined to take special interest in this matter and ensure it is reversed and stopped forthwith as our collective quietness will spell doom in the force and the snowballing effects of having a police organization with the overall morale of its personnel dampened will mean greater harm to our entire wellbeing.

This calls for a mass protest by all well meaning Nigerians. The Civil Society Organizations must take this matter very seriously and ensure that it is stopped. Only officers with outstanding records of gallantry, courage and exemplary conducts are actually deserving of the considerations for special promotion.

This is a matter that all law enforcement agencies must quietly investigate and expose without delay, the corrupt practices in the Police Service Commission (PSC) with a view of bringing the culprits to Justice without delay.

The culprits must be made to suffer dismissal, reduction in rank, etc. as this is the only deterrent that will send serious message to desperate police officers.

This is because the NPF is one organization that the general public must take seriously. No serious nation will allow its police degenerate to the level the Nigeria police is currently operating let alone making it even far worse with such unfortunate acts of the PSC.

The IGP is known for his doggedness as posterity will judge him fairly because he has never engaged in this dangerous practice since assuming office.

It is a well known fact that the IGP will never cascade this nonessential acts to allow the desperate officers benefit from this shameful and dangerous acts. The IGP is by this, encouraged not to release this promotion as the ball is now on his court. He is at liberty to make history or retire with these dents as it portends great danger to the Force and the nation at large. The IGP must cause speedy and deliberate investigation into this matter.

Some officers, who made the list got special promotion four and others three consecutive times. Others are in fact, sadly being promoted from one star to three start. This is the heights of destruction that the police will do herself if this is allowed to go.

The PSC is bent on destroying the agency it is supposed to be the fixer. The PSC as it is, currently lacks all morale standi to probe and decide the faith of erring police officers being itself involved in such corrupt practice. Justice Clara Ogunbiyi should make sure her hard earned name as retired Justice of the Supreme Court is not soiled by desperate staff of the PSC who are taking advantage of her age.

It is also on record that a lot of beneficiaries of the special promotion were promoted just last year but doctored their date of last promotion to read two years earlier. This calls for independent investigation of the falsification records is callous and should not be allowed to go undetected and undeterred. The nation awaits the outcome of the investigation as the newly appointed Chairman of the PSC. IGP Solomon Arase (Rtd) must not allow this evil to succeed.

The list that are not from the outcome of galantry and exemplary conducts must be dropped immediately to cool the tension in the system and ensure only due process is followed in the police career progression.

Lastly, the list of the promotion under the “special” promotion criteria also did not pass through the normal procedure which allows that the IGP makes recommendations and send to the PSC only consider the recommendation for approval. This practice means that the PSC can unilaterally promote and only inform the IGP for implementation which is not the normal procedure.

Imagine members of Courses 23 and 24 wearing AC ranks, while course 20 is still wearing CSP. For what act of gallantry. Just for serving with VIP or fraternizing with politicians? This must not be allowed to have its way.

For the benefit of doubt, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the FCT Minister is just 13 years in service and already benefiting from the rascal special promotion to the rank of ACP.

There is no any form of attack on the FCT Minister that the CSO was heroic in saving his life or that of his family. Many of such instances abound and one can name them over 150 beneficiaries of this rascality in high places.

Another instance is one SP Gadzama Musa, who was a corporal in 2011 and now being promoted to CSP. His mates are still Inspectors.

This can be a subject of investigation as to how a staff that is not a cadet officer can now be senior to cadet officers.

Also one SP Shaba, the current CSO to the Executive Governor of Imo state, who was an inspector in 2017 and now being promoted to CSP, leaves so much to be desired.

Again, one SP Musa Gadzama, who was a corporal in 2011 and was just promoted last year in July, barely 9 months ago to the rank of SP, but his promotion was doctored with the connivance of the staff of PSC to read as if he was qualified based on the two years minimum pegged by the PSC.

This group of dangerously corrupt staff of the PSC must be fished out just so they don’t repeat same to the new Chairman and further soiled the already battered image of the PSC. This is so because they took advantage of the aging circumstance of the Ag. Chairman Justice Clara, whose integrity knows no bounds in an attempt to tarnish her image as she approaches retirement soon in July 2023.

What is Special in this Special Promotion? What special thing have they done? The public must be made to understand.

The Ag. Chairman and representative of the North East, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi is hereby called to support the current and incoming Chairman, IGP Solomon Arase to jointly probe the dates of promotion of the officers she was deceived and misled to approve their promotion, more so, without the consideration of the IGP as has been the practice over time.

The usual practice is that the IGP being the Chief Executive of the Nigeria Police Force is the one that ordinarily knows the existing vacancies for promotion wherein he makes recommendations to the PSC to check the qualifications based on merit, etc prior to giving approval.

It is also expected that the PSC, with the support of the incoming Chairman, IGP Arase, will be painstaking in investigating this quagmire and otherwise embarrassing situation. This will be the first test of his integrity and capability to the affairs of the PSC.

The investigation should be wholesome and independent to include officers from across agencies saddled with terms of reference to probe the recommendations purportedly emanating from First Class Emirs, Senators, Governors, etc. with the view to making ample recommendations in line with the PSC’s constitutional mandate. The investigation must be tasked to unravel all dates that are backdated and records falsified.

The investigative team may also be tasked to bring up recommendations for those to be considered or disqualified based on the outcome or falls short of the qualifications for special promotion. They must also recommend punitive measures including criminal trials to serve as deterrence.

Posterity will be fair to the IGP to fight this fraudulent practices to a standstill.