BEVERLY HILLS, October 01, (THEWILL) – The Court of Appeal in Abuja has voided the recruitment exercise of 10,000 constables by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in 2019.
The recruitment of the constables had pitched the Police Service Commission (PSC) against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) who claimed to have power over the process of hiring fresh hands into the NPF.
The PSC, in a superiority battle with the IGP, in September 2019, instituted a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the IGP’s claim, but lost in a judgment by Justice Inyang Ekwo on December 2, 2019; a decision the PSC appealed.
The Commission asked the Appellate Court 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.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, a three-man panel of the appellate court, headed by Justice Peter Ige, unanimously held that the IGP lacked the power to recruit constables for the NPF.
The court held that the provisions of the Police Act which purportedly vested the IGP the power of recruiting constables “is null and void being in conflict with the Constitutional powers vested in the Police Service Commission”. It therefore declared the recruitment carried out by the IGP as “null and void.”
While granting all the reliefs sought by the PSC in its amended originating summons before the Federal High Court, the appellate court held that the word “appointment” used in the Constitution, as it relates to the powers conferred on the PSC included “the power of recruitment and or enlistment of recruit constables.”
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