The Nigeria Police Force has announced a Special Departmental Selection Board exercise for Inspectors who were recruited in 2000 and have not been promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), SaharaReporters has learnt.
A document dated May 5, 2025, and signed by AIG Fom Pam Joseph, the Force Secretary, on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, announced the long-overdue move.
The directive, which was sent to all Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police across 17 zones, Commissioners of Police nationwide, and Commandants of all police training institutions, instructs that the interview exercise be conducted between May 19 and May 30, 2025.
The letter, with reference number PSC/PP/1095/III/226, partly reads: “I refer to Inspector-General of Police approval vide letter No. CE:2300/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.30/48 dated 23rd April, 2025, CP Welfare Letters No. CE:2300/WEL/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.47/20 DTO: 021000/04/2024, CE: 2300/WEL/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.47/49 DTO: 231330/05/2024 and Police Service Commission Letter PSC/PP/1095/III/226 dated 15th February, 2025 and forward herewith List of Inspectors of Police scheduled for a Special Departmental Selection Board for recruits enlisted in year 2000 who are yet to be promoted ASP.”
The document further outlines that zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police will chair the selection board in their respective zones and are mandated to ensure that only officers listed in the attached schedule under their jurisdictions are interviewed.
The memo reads: “Attached herewith is the distribution of the Inspectors according to their Zonal commands (appendix ‘A’ to ‘R’). The Zonal Assistant Inspectors – General of Police are to serve as Chairmen of the Board in their respective Zones and ensure that only Inspectors in the attached List under their Zones are interviewed and the exercise is to commence from 19th to 30th May, 2025.”
A total of 4,395 police personnel have been enlisted for the interview, cutting across various zones. The details are as follows: Abuja HQ – 368, Zone 1 Kano – 153, Zone 2 Lagos – 760, Zone 3 Yola – 126, Zone 4 Makurdi – 212, Zone 5 Benin – 542, Zone 6 Calabar – 92, Zone 7 Abuja – 452, Zone 8 Lokoja – 90, Zone 9 Umuahia – 188, Zone 10 Sokoto – 60, Zone 11 Osogbo – 243, Zone 12 Bauchi – 55, Zone 13 Ukpo Dunukofia – 194, Zone 14 Katsina – 298, Zone 15 Maiduguri – 114, Zone 16 Yenagoa – 323, and Zone 17 Akure – 125.
This announcement comes amidst growing frustration among rank-and-file officers, some of whom have spent years stuck in the same rank despite fulfilling all requirements for promotion.
SaharaReporters had also reported how some disgruntled officers of the Nigeria Police Force raised the alarm over what they described as a systemic exclusion of grassroots officers from career progression in the force, following the cancellation of the Advanced Studies Command (ASCON) programme.
The ASCON is a path once available to degree and HND holders who entered the force using their Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).
In exclusive interviews with SaharaReporters, the officers—initially recruited into the force with SSCE qualifications but who later earned university degrees—lamented that their hopes of career advancement have been dashed by a policy shift they allege now favours “children of politicians and the elite enrolled in the Nigeria Police Academy.”
According to one of the officers who spoke with SaharaReporters, the Nigeria Police Force once had a clear pathway for career advancement through the ASCON programme, especially for officers who joined with SSCE but later acquired higher qualifications such as HNDs or university degrees.
Under the old system, such officers could apply for ASCON training, and upon successful completion, were automatically promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
SaharaReporters
