The Police Service Commission, has revealed that a total of 136,177 candidates for the ongoing police recruitment exercise have already been screened.
Head, Press and Public Relations, PSC, Ikechukwu Ani disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, while providing an update of the ongoing screening exercise.
The statement noted that out of the 136,177 candidates screened, 108,768 have been successfully uploaded, the difference being problems/challenges from fluctuating networks.
Ani explained that the PSC through the Police Recruitment Board, is currently screening 416,270 Nigerian youths who have shown interest and applied to be considered for a career in the Nigeria Police Force, adding that the candidates are being subjected to physical and credentials screening.
In the statement, the Commission has, with the ongoing recruitment exercise, upgraded and automated the processes to ensure its credibility and create a measurable standard for final selection of successful candidates.
The PSC spokesperson pointed out that the results/outcome of the screening exercise are uploaded real time to the Commission’s portal and monitored by the Situation Room established and led by the Commission.
He said the PSC Chairman, Solomon Arase, who is the National Coordinator for the recruitment exercise, was satisfied with the commitment of both the commission staff, the police officials and other members of the Police Recruitment Board.
He affirmed that there has been a remarkable improvement in both screening and uploading rates and a complementary daily reportage of figures.
Arase lauded the field work force and charged them “let’s maintain this momentum and strive for even greater achievements”.
He gave the candidates assurance that they should not panic and be rest assured that they will all be screened before the end of the screening exercise, noting that he is aware of the heavy traffic at the screening centres.
He said the Commission wants to show Nigeria a new and credible platform for recruitment into the public service, arguing that the ongoing police recruitment will surely meet all known international standards devoid of any manipulation.
He repeated that the nation will be proud of the products of this exercise.
He then noted that the Commission may review the sequence of the exercise where the aptitude tests may come first.
Arase stressed that reports from the field indicated a curious development where many candidates with beautiful Senior Secondary School Certificates and National Examination Council certificates can not write their names or introduce themselves.
He expressed worries how they acquired such excellent certificates, noting that aptitude tests coming as a first stage of the recruitment process will help eliminate obviously unqualified candidates and reduce the size of persons that would subsequently appear for screening.
He said that the Commission will surely get it right and produce a template for effective and efficient recruitment exercise in Nigeria.
“When we get it right at the entry point, we would have almost gotten sixty percent quality in the expected performance of the Officers and that is our objective” Dr. Arase noted.
