By MONDAY IJEH

The Police Service Commission (PSC) says no fewer than 121,596 applicants were screened out from the 161,873 application received in the ongoing recruitment process of Constables into the Nigeria Police Force.

The Chairman, PSC Standing Committee on Police Matters, Dr Taiwo Lakanu said this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

Lakanu said that 434,604 applicants were qualified for the next stage of the recruitment process after screening, while 60,674 applications were invalid.

He explained that 348,974 applicants applied for General Duty while 85,630 were for Specialist, adding that 442,592 of the applicants were male while 114,640 were female.

He said the figure was a clear demonstration of the continued confidence of Nigerian youths in the Nigeria Police Force as a career of honour and service.

“However, I must speak candidly on the issue of state participation. At the early stages of this exercise, we observed wide disparities in application numbers across the federation.

“While some states recorded very high participation, others lagged significantly behind.

“In response to this imbalance, the commission, after extensive consultation with the Nigeria Police Force, and other stakeholders approved a two-week extension of the application deadline.

“This decision enabled states with low turnout to intensify sensitisation and mobilisation efforts and I am pleased to report that this intervention yielded positive results,” he said.

The chairman said that final state-by-state analysis showed that Adamawa recorded the highest applications with 38,989, followed by Benue, 34,511, Kaduna State, 30,397 and Borno, 24,009.

He said that states with the lowest applications were Ebonyi, with 1,667, applicants, Anambra, 1,739

Bayelsa, 2,430, and Lagos State, 2,448.

“While we acknowledge that some states recorded relatively low numbers, the overall national spread reflects the principle of Federal Character, which the PSC holds sacrosanct.

“With this application phase now concluded, we are proceeding to the next critical stage of physical screening and verification of credentials,” he added. (NAN)

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