The Court of Appeal has nullified the recruitment of 10,000 constables carried out by Nigeria Police Force last year; citing that it affected the constitutional mandate of the Police Service Commission.
The court ruled that the police act 2020 enacted in September this year contravened paragraph 30 Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution “which empowers the commission to appoint persons into offices in the Nigeria Police Force except the Office of the Inspector-General of Police.”
Spokesperson of the Commission, Ikechukwu Ani, in a statement on Wednesday, explained that the details of the Appeal Court judgment were contained in the Certified True Copy received on Tuesday.
The statement was titled, ‘Appeal Court declares Police Act 2020 as it affects PSC mandate null and void.’
It read, “Justice Emmanuel Agim, one of the three Justices of the court in his concurrent judgment, ruled that Paragraph 30 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution has given the power to the commission to appoint persons into offices in the Nigeria Police and did not exclude constables and cadets to Nigeria Police Academy from offices in the Nigeria Police into which the appellant can appoint persons.”
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Olabisi Ige, the Court of Appeal gave a declaration that by virtue of section 1 subsection 3 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) “any piece of legislation or instrument relied upon by the defendants (including but not limited to the Police Act and the Police Regulations) in exercising or purporting to exercise the powers to appoint, promote, dismiss or discipline persons holding or aspiring to hold offices in the Nigeria Police Force, being inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution particularly section 153 subsection (1)(m), section 153 subsection (2) and section 215(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Paragraph 30 part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, is invalid, null and void and of no effect whatsoever, the statement read.
However, PSC said it would soon make known to the public its programme of action in respect of recruitments into the constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force and admission into the Police Academy.
