Justice Clara Ogunbiyi Assumes Office as PSC Acting Chairman

The Police Service Commission on Thursday officially announced that Alhaji Musiliu Adeola Kunbi Smith, a retired Inspector General of Police has formally resigned his appointment as the Chairman..

The Commission in a statement signed by its spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani said, “His resignation which has been accepted by Mr. President takes immediate effect”.

“Alhaji Smith retired on health grounds. Following his resignation and in pursuant to Schedule 2 (4) sub-section 2 (2) of the Police Service Commission Establishment Act 2001, members of the Management of the Commission met on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022, and nominated a colleague, Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, as the acting Chairman pending the appointment of a new Chairman by Mr. President.

“Justice Ogunbiyi who was until her nomination the Commissioner 1 in the Commission and next in hierarchy to the former Chairman, expressed her appreciation to her colleagues for the confidence reposed on her and pledged to run an inclusive administration based on the rule of law.

“She said the Commission deserves the best and promised to ensure that the Management will do everything possible to give the Staff, a Commission they will be proud of.

“We will do our best by the grace of God and I believe our best will be good enough” she noted.

 “Meanwhile the Joint Union Congress of the Commission has suspended it’s strike action to allow the new Management to look into its demands.

Speaking with newsmen on the development, Chairman of Joint Union Congress, PSC chapter, Adoyi Adoyi remarked that following the exit of the former chairman, the union leaders resolved to call congress to chart a way forward.

He said, “We are not God but we can only hope that things will change for the better with this new development. We have resolved at our congress that the indefinite strike embarked upon to protest the attempt by the Police headquarters to usurp our functions be suspended”.

The present management of the Commission was inaugurated on the 25th of July 2018 and is expected to exit on the 24 of July 2023

Other commissioners appointed in 2018 alongside Smith and Ogunbiyi include: Lawal Bawa AIG Rt, (Full-time commissioner, North West Zone); Mohammed Najatu (Member, North West Zone); Braimoh Austin (Member, South – South Zone); Barr. Rommy Mom (Member, North Central Zone) and Dr Nkemka Jombo-Ofo (Member, South East Zone).

Recall that until his resignation, the retired IGP had been at loggerhead with the Police hierarchy over the issue of recruitment of Constables into the Nigerian Police Force.

The Police Service Commission had in the month of August, opened its portal for the recruitment of police constable for the year 2022 and placed an advert on the recruitment in a national daily.

However, in response to the development, the Nigeria Police Force in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi had asked Nigerians to disregard the advertisement and call for applications.

Adejobi had said, the advert had no connection with the Nigeria Police Force and was not in tandem with the police recruitment process.

The statement read, “The Nigeria Police Force wishes to inform well-meaning members of the public that it has not commenced the 2022 Police Constables Recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force contrary to a publication on Page 21 of a National Daily of Thursday August 11, 2022 by the Police Service Commission (PSC).

“The police similarly state unequivocally that the advert has no connection with the Nigeria Police Force nor is it in tandem with the police recruitment process, and should be disregarded in all its entirety.

The website to which the publication refers intending candidates – http://www.recruitment.psc. gov.ng – is not associated with the Nigeria Police Force.

“The Nigeria Police Force hereby calls on all stakeholders and intending applicants to discountenance the information in both the newspaper and on the portal as the website is not the official portal for Police Constables recruitment.

“The Nigeria Police Force thereby assures well-meaning Nigerians that the commencement of the 2022 recruitment exercise will be announced via the official police e-recruitment website – https://policerecruitment.gov. ng, the Nigeria Police Force official website – https://www.npf.gov.ng, and advertisements on national dailies and official police social media accounts as and when due.”

However,  despite the stance of the Police headquarters, the PSC recruitment portal for constables into the Nigeria Police has been running with over 60,000 applications received.

The PSC had in a statement disclosed that it no intention to abdicate its constitutional mandate to recruit Nigerians into the Police Force.

It urged interested Nigerians to continue to avail themselves of the opportunity to pursue a career in the Nigeria Police Force adding that the portal, which was opened on Aug. 15, would be closed on Aug. 26.

During the regime of former IGP, Mohammed Adamu, the same scenario played out and the PSC Chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, were at loggerheads over which body is allowed by law to carry out the recruitment process.

The commission then dragged the former IGP and the Force to court for conducting the recruitment exercise of 10,000 constables in 2019.