The Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Musiliu Smith, has resigned from his appointment. The spokesperson of the commission, Ikechukwu Ani, confirmed the resignation of Mr Smith to Daily Trust on Wednesday. Mr Smith, a former Inspector General of Police, was said to have been advised by the board of the commission to tender his resignation. He has reportedly handed over to another member of the board, Clara Ogunbiyi, a retired Supreme Court justice, who represents the judiciary.
Troubled agency
The embattled former chairman had, until his resignation, been at loggerheads with workers of the commission and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba. They have had many disagreements in the past over which body should be responsible for the recruitment, promotion, and appointment of constables and officers. Trouble started at the commission when the recruitment of 10,000 constables into the Nigeria Police pitted the PSC against the office of the erstwhile Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, in 2019. The commission, which is saddled with the responsibility of recruiting constables and taking disciplinary action against erring police officers, felt the IGP was trying to usurp its powers. As a result, a court process was initiated to halt the ongoing recruitment exercise then.
Although the commission’s case was dismissed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the appellate court sitting in Abuja, on 30 September 2020, affirmed the constitutional powers of the PSC to appoint persons to the Nigeria Police Force.
