PSC workers protest over IG taking over constable recruitment, others

Federal civil servants attached to the headquarters of Police Service Commission (PSC) Thursday paralysed activities at their workplace and demanded immediate resignation of the chairman of the commission, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector-General of Police. The aggrieved workers, who were protesting the alleged takeover of the recruitment of 10,000 constables by the force headquarters, lack […]

Federal civil servants attached to the headquarters of Police Service Commission (PSC) Thursday paralysed activities at their workplace and demanded immediate resignation of the chairman of the commission, Musiliu Smith, a retired Inspector-General of Police.

The aggrieved workers, who were protesting the alleged takeover of the recruitment of 10,000 constables by the force headquarters, lack of staff promotion and training by the commission management, among other things forced the permanent secretary, William Alo, and other directors out of their respective offices.

• Gombe FRSC records 14 deaths in 46 crashes
• Inadequate science equipment in public schools retards Nigeria’s growth – NAS

The protesting civil servants, while demanding the immediate resignation of Smith, alleged that he was conniving with the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to shortchange the commission by handing over the constables’ recruitment exercise to the IGP which is PSC’s responsibility.

The Chairman, Joint Union Congress, Adoyi Adoyi, declared a three-day warning strike, insisting that fresh actions would be taken against the management on Monday if their demands were not met.

He said, “The permanent secretary read the management decision to us but there was no timeline to the promises. We suspected it was a ploy to get us off their backs.”

“The police were always involved in the exercise but it is always driven by the commission because it is our mandate but why they want to exclude the commission is a secret between the police and the chairman.

“The management promised to conclude the promotion examination but it has not been done. Last year, the exercise dragged on for so long and was not concluded due to vested political interests.”

When contacted, the spokesman of the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, told Daily Trust that he was out of Abuja, and as such he was unaware of the development.

“Sorry, I am not in town, I’m in the East for the sensitisation programme of the commission,” he told our correspondent via a text message.