The Police Service Commission has raised concerns over what it described as persistent attempts by vested interests to take over its constitutional responsibilities of recruitment, promotion, and discipline within the Nigeria Police Force.
The alarm was sounded by PSC Chairman, retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Hashimu Argungu, while receiving a presidential delegation led by the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, at the Commission’s headquarters on Monday.
In a statement issued by the Commission’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Ani, Argungu lamented that interference from external bodies was undermining the PSC’s efficiency.
“The Commission is grossly underfunded and incapable of effectively and efficiently executing its constitutional mandate of police recruitment, promotion, and discipline. This anomaly is also worsened by a struggle by different and divergent interests to hijack its mandate and dilute its efficiency and effectiveness,” Argungu said.
He added that beyond inadequate funding, “one of the key problems the Police Service Commission is facing is unnecessary interference into its constitutional and statutory mandate.
The Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit should assist the Commission in fencing off these interlopers and ensuring that the Commission is allowed to do its work.”
The PSC Chairman also criticized the envelope budgeting system, which he said hampers the Commission’s independence. He proposed an alternative framework that would allow the PSC to present its budget directly to the President, in line with Section 15(1) of the PSC Act 2001.
“The envelope budgeting system creates a ceiling in the budgeting process, thereby limiting funding to the core functions of the Commission.
The Act empowers the Commission to submit its estimates of expenditure and income directly to the President, and this should be implemented,” Argungu stated.
In her response, Bala Usman assured the Commission that the Presidency was committed to protecting its autonomy and strengthening its role in the administration’s security agenda.
“We will look at your mandate and ensure you are allowed to do your work. We will de-bottleneck the problems, and we will have a PSC that stands alone and not as an attachment to any Ministry,” she said.
The PSC and the Ministry of Police Affairs have recently clashed over admissions into the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano, following disputes on recruitment processes.
The Commission has insisted that it remains the only body constitutionally empowered to handle such responsibilities.