Skip to main content

Court To Deliver Judgment In PSC Suit On Police Recruitment December 4

November 20, 2019

The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, fixed the date on Wednesday after hearing arguments from counsel representing parties in the suit.

Image

 

The Federal High Court, Abuja, 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, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, fixed the date on Wednesday after hearing arguments from counsel representing parties in the suit.

Arguing on behalf of PSC, 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.

Agabi said, “The fourth defendant had 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 further argued that there was no constitutional provision to back the claim that “recruitment of police personnel from time immemorial had been done by the Inspector-General of Police”.

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 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.

After hearing arguments from all parties, Justice Ekwo fixed December 4 for judgment and ordered that on that day, no employee of the police or PSC should be in the court gallery.

Topics
Police