Diri faults NPF recruitment process, says it’s unjust, lacks merit

Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has decried the recruitment procedure into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), describing it as negating the Federal Character principle.

According to Diri, recruitment into federal agencies that is based on a number of local government areas in a state was unjustifiable and lacked merit.

Diri stated this at a town hall meeting organised by the state government in collaboration with the Police Service Commission in Yenagoa on Friday.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, quoted the governor as saying that equitable recruitment can only be achieved if the process was in tandem with the federal character principle as enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution.

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He called for a review of the anomaly, saying that no state is superior to another irrespective of size and population.

He said: “I have one concern and that is on recruitments done in this country based on local governments. 

“As you can see, Bayelsa has only eight local governments. So how do you justify equitable recruitment based on the federal character principle as provided in our Constitution when you recruit from 40 local government areas in a state like Kano and here you are recruiting from only eight local government areas?

“There is no justice and equity in that. As a representative of the Police Service Commission chairman, please take this back to your commission that the recruitment process in our country is not justifiable, is not fair and there is no equity in it.

“It is only at a forum like this we can tell ourselves the truth. As a federation, every state government, no matter how small, should be considered by virtue of the federal character principle in our Constitution.”

Diri restated his position on state police, saying that the federal police is now over-burdened by the country’s growing population.

He also called on Nigerians to disabuse their minds from the notion that state police would be hijacked by governors, stressing that the underlying issue is more on the protection of lives and property.