States in Nigeria’s South have lost out in the ongoing recruitment of 10,000 personnel into the Nigeria Police Force following the altering of the recruitment formula by power brokers outside the Police Service Commission (PSC), which is empowered by law to undertake the recruitment.

Out of the 10,000 new personnel, 500 are to be Cadet Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), 500 Cadet Inspectors, 1,500 Specialist Officers and the bulk of 7,500 Constables.

News Express learnt that whereas the 2,500 ASPs, Cadet Inspectors and Specialist Officers have been shared according to states as required by the federal character principle, the bulk of 7,500 Constables have been shared according to local governments, with each of the 774 LGAs recognised by the country’s Constitution getting 10 Constables each and the remaining 10 going to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

An impeccable source at the PSC said: “The recruitment rule was changed based on instructions from the Presidency.”

The source specifically mentioned Minister of Interior, retired General Abdulrahman Dambazau, under whose ministry the police is, as one of those behind the rigging of the recruitment process.

“We are powerless and have no other option than to act as directed,” the source said.

News Express reports that states in the North have more local government areas than those in the South. The country has 36 states, with 19 of them and the FCT in the North. “The South has lost out. The implications will become clear much later as these Constables are the future of the police,” our source said.

A story this morning in The Guardian broke down the figures of the about-to-recruited Constables as follows: Abia, Enugu, Plateau and Yobe states with 17 local governments each would have 204 of their indigenes recruited, while Akwa Ibom with 31 local governments gets 372; Adamawa and Anambra each with 21 would have 252 while Bauchi will have no fewer than 240 of her indigenes recruited.

Bayelsa with eight local governments will have 96 slots, while Benue, Kaduna, Sokoto and Rivers will each have 276; Borno, Imo and Jigawa with 27 each will take 324 slots each, while Cross River, Edo and Ondo with 18 will have 216 slots each.

Delta and Niger states with 25 local governments each by this classification will have 300 slots.

Ebonyi and Nasarawa with 13 local councils each will have 156 while Ekiti, Kwara and Taraba states with 16 each get 192.

Gombe with 11 LGs will have 132 slots, Kano with 44 will take the lion’s share of 528 places and Katsina with 34 will get 408 slots, while Kebbi and Kogi states with 21 each get 252 positions. Lagos and Ogun states will get 240 slots from 20 local councils each; Osun takes 360 slots from 30 and Oyo with 33 gets 396 slots.

The FCT with six councils would get just 72 slots.

•Photo shows Dambazau.