Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A 22‑year‑old applicant, Babatunde Fawaz, has been disqualified from the ongoing recruitment exercise of the Nigeria Police Force on the grounds of being “overaged,” despite records showing he is well within the approved age limit for entry‑level constables. The applicant, a native of Abeokuta North Local Government Area in Ogun State, said he was born in June 2003 – a fact reflected in his declaration of age and his National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) details. Yet, after successfully completing both the physical and credential screening stages, his application status was abruptly changed to “disqualified” when the list for the computer‑based examination was released. The message from the official recruitment portal read: “Dear Babatunde Fawaz, Be informed that following the credential and physical screening assessment conducted earlier, you did not meet the minimum benchmark required for further consideration in the 2025 Recruitment Exercise. REASON(S): OVERAGED.”
The development has exposed a major flaw in the automated screening system of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and raised urgent questions about the transparency and reliability of the digital verification process now being used to screen tens of thousands of applicants nationwide. According to the recruitment guidelines issued by the police, the maximum age for entry‑level General Duty Constables is 25 years. At the time of the screening, Babatunde was about 21 years and 10 months old – placing him nearly four years below the stated ceiling. “I am just 22. I don’t know why they said I’m over aged. It’s traumatic,” Babatunde told Daily Post. “How can I be overaged at 22 when the maximum age is 25?”
The case has laid bare a deeper problem that many applicants have whispered about: the opaque, algorithm‑driven screening portal operated by the PSC appears to be rejecting candidates for reasons that do not align with their official records. The system relies heavily on data from the NIMC to verify age and identity. However, when that data is incorrect, outdated, or misinterpreted, candidates like Babatunde – who have passed every physical and documentary hurdle – are automatically flagged and barred from the examination stage without human review. “I had already passed the physical screening. They saw me. They checked my documents. They didn’t raise any issue,” Babatunde said. “Then suddenly, a computer message tells me I am overaged. It doesn’t make sense.”
The physical and credential screening for the recruitment exercise, which aims to fill 50,000 constable positions, was held between March 9 and April 18, 2026, across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The written examination for candidates who passed the screening is scheduled for April 28 to 30, 2026 – a window that Babatunde will now miss unless the PSC intervenes. Efforts to reach the Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Anthony Placid, the force’s Public Relations Officer, were abortive; he did not respond to messages, and his phone line was unreachable.
The disqualification of a clearly eligible candidate underscores a recurring failure in Nigeria’s public recruitment drives: the reliance on rigid, error‑prone systems without adequate manual oversight. In recent weeks, the police portal has disqualified candidates for a range of seemingly nonsensical reasons, including “bow legs,” “flat feet,” and “discrepancies in date of birth.” The automated age‑verification system, however, is the most consequential, because it permanently locks out candidates who are, by every measurable standard, qualified.
For Babatunde, the disqualification is not just a bureaucratic error; it is a life‑altering setback. A young man who had invested time, hope, and scarce resources into the recruitment process now watches from the sidelines as others take the examination he was prepared for. “I don’t know if it was a glitch. I don’t know if someone made a mistake. I just want a chance to prove myself,” he said.
The Police Service Commission has not responded to requests for comment on the specific case. However, the commission has previously acknowledged that its portal relies on NIMC records and that candidates must ensure their identity details are accurate at the time of application.
The onus, critics argue, should not fall entirely on the applicant when a system error is at fault. Unless the PSC revisits the disqualification and manually verifies Babatunde’s age against his original documents, a 22‑year‑old will remain locked out of the Nigeria Police Force – not because he is too old, but because a computer said so.
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