PSC raises the alarm over attempts to hijack mandate

The Police Service Commission has decried persistent attempts by vested interests to hijack its constitutional mandate of recruitment, promotion and discipline within the Nigeria Police Force.

A statement on Monday by the commission spokesman, Ikechuwuku Ani, said the PSC chairman, DIG Hashimu Argungu (retd.), disclosed this when he received a presidential delegation led by Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit, Hadiza Bala Usman.

Although Argungu did not name the organisations allegedly attempting to usurp the PSC power, the commission has previously been locked in a dispute with the Nigeria Police Force over the recruitment of cadets, a matter that was later resolved.

Presently, the Commission and the Ministry of Police Affairs are at odds over admissions into the Police Academy, Wudil, Kano.

The PSC had earlier dismissed as unauthorised an advertisement calling for applications to the academy issued by POLAC, while the Ministry, speaking on behalf of the academy, countered the Commission’s position.

Argungu told the delegation that, beyond the Commission’s perennial funding challenges, one of the key problems the PSC is facing is unnecessary interference into its constitutional and statutory mandate.

He called on the delegation to help cut off interlopers meddling in the Commission’s mandate.

The Chairman noted that the Commission is grossly underfunded and incapable of effectively and efficiently executing its constitutional mandate of Police recruitment, promotion and discipline, adding that this anomaly is also worsened by a struggle by different and divergent interests to hijack its mandate and dilute its efficiency and effectiveness.

According to him, one of the key problems the Police Service Commission is facing is unnecessary interference into its Constitutional and statutory mandate, adding that the Central Result Delivery Coordination Unit should assist the Commission fence off these interlopers and ensure that the Commission is allowed to do its work, ” the statement partly read.

He warned that such interference, if not checked, could compromise the Commission’s efficiency and effectiveness in providing a police force fit for 21st-century policing.

The PSC Chairman, who also complained about the constraints of the envelope budgeting system, recommended an independent budgeting process for the Commission in line with Section 15(1) of the PSC Act 2001, which allows it to submit expenditure estimates directly to the President.

“The PSC Chairman complained about the envelope budgetary system, which “creates a ceiling in the budgeting process, thereby limiting funding to the core Functions of the Commission.

“DIG Argungu recommended an independent budgeting system for the Commission that gives it the ability to submit its budget directly to the Presidency noting that the PSC act of 2001 Section 15(1) mandates the Commission to submit its estimate of expenditure and income during the next succeeding year, not later than 30th September in each year to the President, ” the statement added.

In her response, Bala Usman, assured the Commission that the Presidency was committed to strengthening its autonomy.

“We will look at your mandate and will 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 an attachment of any Ministry,” she said.

She explained that the visit was aimed at clarifying the role of the PSC in achieving the administration’s security agenda and enhancing collaboration between the Commission and the Ministry of Police Affairs.