Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court will on December 4 deliver judgment in the suit filed by the Police Service Commission against the Nigeria Police Force over the recruitment of 10,000 constables.
Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed the date on Wednesday after counsel for both parties adopted their respective briefs of arguments for and against the suit.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Kanu Agabi,SAN, held that contrary to arguments earlier canvassed by the Attorney-General of the Federation, the fourth defendant in the suit, there was no distinction between recruitment and appointment.
Related: Police recruitment: ‘Face-off between NPF, PSC worrisome – Nwanguma
“The fourth defendant has tried to distinguish between recruitment and appointment, but recruitment simply means the filling of vacancies by appointment of people not already in the public service, there is no distinction between the two,” Agabi said.
Agabi further argued that there was no constitutional provision to back the claim that “recruitment of police personnel from time immemorial has been done by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).”
He said it was the responsibility of the PSC to recruit police personnel and not that of the IGP and that allowing the IGP to conduct recruitment would be usurping the powers of the Commission.
Agabi prayed the court to grant all the reliefs sought by his client in the suit.
Mr Alex Iziyon, SAN, canvassing arguments on behalf of the first to third defendants, the Nigeria Police Force, the IGP, and the Minister of Police Affairs, described the suit as frivolous and scandalous.
He urged the court to dismiss the suit, saying it was an abuse of court process.
On his part, Mr Terhemba Agbe, counsel for the Attorney-General of the Federation, insisted that there was a distinction between recruitment and appointment.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, urged the Federal High Court in Abuja not to nullify the recruitment of 10,000 police constables as requested by the Police Service Commission.
The Minister’s position was contained in a counter-affidavit challenging the suit instituted by the Police Service Comission (PSC) agianst the Inspector General of Police over the recruitment of 10,000 police constables.
The AGF had in the said document argued that nullifying the process, which he said had gone through “significant stages”, as requested by the Commission, would amount to an economic loss for the country.
The PSC had in September this year instituted the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1124/2019 in its bid to gain the exclusive right to conduct the recruitment process which the NPF and Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, have almost concluded.
The plaintiff, accordingly, asked the court to nullify the process already commenced by the NPF and the IGP, and declare it as the body with the exclusive powers to carry out the recruitment process.
However, Malami, who was joined as the 4th defendant in the case is on the same page with the three defendants – the NPF, the IGP, and the Minister of Police Affairs – urging the court to dismiss the suit.
In the written legal submissions filed on his behalf along with the counter-affidavit by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Dayo Apata, SAN, Malami contended that the Nigerian Constitution “did not state recruitment as one of the functions of the Police Service Commission.”
He added, “The word, ‘appointment’ cannot be accorded an expansive interpretation to include the initial enlistment or engagement recruitment of constables into the NPF.
“A proper construction of the word ‘appoint’ and ‘appointed’ in section 215(1)(a) and (b), and Paragraph 30(a) of the Third Schedule, Part I of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and section 24 of the Police Service Commission Act shows that the appointment is to be made from persons already in the system.”
He added, “While it is the powers of the Police Service Commission to appoint police officers to various offices, it is the duty of the 1st to 3rd defendants to conduct recruitment exercises for persons to be appointed by the Police Service Commission.”