PSC CLEARS AIR ON ALLEGED LOPSIDED PROMOTION, PICKS HOLES IN OHANAEZE’S CLAIMS

PSC CLEARS AIR ON ALLEGED LOPSIDED PROMOTION, PICKS HOLES IN OHANAEZE’S CLAIMS

THE recent gale of promotion of deserving Police officers released by the Alhaji Musliu Smith-police Service Commission PSC, may have gone down well with many but the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo. The pan Igbo socio-cultural group had in the wake of the promotion raised an eyebrow at the exercise which it describes as ethnic-based. The group contended that in the exercise, the South-Eastern Nigeria was worse hit with only a Commissioner of Police benefiting from the exercise while other geo-political zones especially, the Northern Nigeria was well represented.

 

 But debunking the claims by the pan Igbo socio-cultural group, the PSC through its image maker, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani in a press statement made available to the press, describes the claims by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo as untrue and misleading. He noted that the promotion was devoid of ethnic biases, based on availability of vacancies and clean records; contrary to the claims of the group. According to the statement, save for those on “special promotion” as enshrined in the Police Act, every other officer elevated to the next rank was on merit.

 

 The statement reads in full:
“The attention of the Police Service Commission has been drawn to comments credited to the leadership of the OHANEZE Ndigbo a pan Igbo Socio Cultural group on the recent promotions into different offices of the Nigeria Police Force and specifically as it affected Promotions into the office of Commissioner of Police.
The OHANEZE noted that only one Igbo son was promoted to the rank of CP in the recent exercise and that all Commissioners of Police in the South East are Northerners. It also observed that not many Igbo Officers are in the high echelon of the Force. 

 

 The Commission holds the OHANEZE and it’s leadership in high esteem and will wish to clarify its position in the Promotion and placement of senior Police officers.
The Commission wishes to state that Promotions of senior Police Officers including Promotion into the office of Commissioner of Police are based on availability of vacancies, seniority, free of any pending disciplinary matter and merit except in few cases of special promotion. Even for special promotion, there are laid down rules, regulations and conditions which an Officer must satisfy such as; must have stayed two years in a rank; must not have had any special
Promotion in the immediate past five years and must not have a pending disciplinary matter, (PDM).

 
The Commission also allows the Inspector General of Police who is the operational head of the Police to recommend qualified and deserving Officers to the Commission for Promotion. This is a synergy the Commission has forged with the Police to ensure complementarity in the management of it’s Officers.
The Commission do not and has never approved Promotion of any Police Officer based on ethnic or any other consideration except the ones stated above.

 
It is also important to state that it is not true that Command Commissioners of Police in the South East are all from the North. The CPs for Imo, Abia and Anambra states Commands are not Northerners. Only the CPs for Enugu and Ebonyi are from the North just as there are Igbo CPs in other Zones. The CP for Bayelsa and Oyo States are Igbos. There are also many other Igbo sons who are Commissioners of Police of different Police formations in the country.
It is also not true that not many Igbo Officers are in the high echelon of the Force.”Continuing, the statement added,”Just recently, an Igbo son, former Commissioner of Police in charge of Police Budget who was promoted a Deputy Inspector General of Police was deployed as DIG A, that is overseeing Administration and Finance, a very sensitive Department in the Police Management team.
The Commission wishes to assure the leadership of the OHANEZE Ndigbo 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 police and in the larger interest of the Nigerian nation.