The Police Service Commission has reiterated that no part of Nigeria has been deliberately shortchanged in the promotion of officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
This was disclosed in a statement on Wednesday by Ikechukwu Ani, Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission.
He said the Commission was aware that promotion in the Police Force is guided by defined rules and regulations that have nothing to do with ethnic or religious considerations.
The statement read in part, “The Commission wishes to state that it has since sanitized the processes of recruitment, promotion and discipline in the Force and has ensured that these processes are also governed by established rules and regulations.
“It is on record that the Commission has contributed in ensuring sanity in the recruitment of qualified Nigerians into the Nigeria Police Force where the principle of federal character is now considered alongside merit.
“The Commission is a product of the 1999 Constitution as amended and further consolidated by the Police Service Commission (Establishment) Act, 2001. It met at inception in 2001, a recruitment process that needed to be made more transparent and inclusive through respect for the federal character principles such as advertisement of recruitment exercise, observance of equality of states and merit.
“The Commission wishes to therefore advise that Nigerians from all the states of the country should encourage their wards to not only show interest in all levels of recruitment into the force but on being successful in getting in and also striving to remain in the Force so that they don’t create future problems for their geopolitical zone of not having representation at critical levels of the force.
“It is unfair and ungodly for the Commission to therefore be accused of marginalizing any geopolitical zone of our country during the promotion of officers to the senior ranks of Commissioners and Assistant Inspectors-General of Police since those that will be considered will be Officers that remained in service to rise to ranks qualifying them for selection.
“The Nigeria Police Force is a regimented organization with a tradition and laid down rules and regulations for carrying out its activities and the Commission has never deviated from this tradition except in very rare cases where public interest will be served.
“The Commission wishes to reiterate that it will at no time consciously marginalize any section of the country in the promotion and deployment of senior police officers. The Commission will continue to be guided by the established rules guiding promotions in the Nigeria Police Force in the larger interest of the Nigerian nation.”
