BY EDMOND ODOK – Ahead of the February 25 presidential election, the Police Service Commission (PSC) has directed that all police officers due for retirement must immediately proceed with the process.
This is as the Commission explained that there will be no extension of tenures for the retiring senior police officers, warning that the success of the 2023 general elections should not be tied to their staying put in office as being canvassed in some circles.
A statement released in Abuja on Tuesday by PSC’s Spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, maintained that all existing laws, the Police Act, PSC Act, and the constitution of Nigeria, constrain the Commission from elongating the tenure of retiring senior police officers.
According to the statement; “The Commission took a decision that it will not extend the tenures of the retiring senior police officers, stressing that even when requested, it cannot do so as it is against all existing laws, Police Act, Police Service Commission Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The Commission further assured Nigerians that there is an institutional succession plan in the Nigeria Police Force, especially with the current injection of 10,000 Constables and several other thousands of cadet Assistant Superintends of Police (ASPs) from the Police Academy every year.
The PSC Spokesperson also said a management meeting held on Monday, January 23, 2023, described as “unnecessary” the ongoing campaign to extend the tenures of some Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs), Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs), Commissioners (CPs), and other senior police officers.
Maintaining that such a campaign is an affront to all existing laws in the country guiding entry and exit in the public service, the statement said; “The Commission assured Nigerians that there will be no vacuum in the hierarchy of the Police with the touted retirement of hundreds of senior police officers.
“It took a decision to rigidly uphold the provisions of the law which stipulates that a serving public Officer, whether in the Police or in any other government agency, must exit the service at the age of 60 or having served for a period of 35 years.”
Consequently, the statement said the Commission would not “encourage the subversion of the laws guiding entry and exit into the Nigeria Public Service”.
Additionally, the PSC assured that “the retiring senior Police Officers are not indispensable and that their exit would not in any way or manner affect the success of the 2023 general election”.
