A 22 year old applicant, Babatunde Fawaz, has been disqualified from the ongoing Nigeria Police Force recruitment exercise on the grounds of being “overaged”, despite records indicating he falls within the approved age limit.
The applicant stated that he was born in June 2003, a detail reflected in both his declaration of age and national identity records.
The development has raised concerns about the transparency and reliability of the screening process conducted physically and through the Police Service Commission recruitment portal.
According to recruitment guidelines, the maximum age for entry level applicants is 25 years. However, Babatunde was disqualified after completing both the physical and credential screening stages, based on a notification received via the recruitment portal.
The message 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.”
At the time of the screening, he was approximately 21 years and 10 months old, placing him well below the stipulated age limit.
Babatunde, an indigene of Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, had successfully passed earlier stages of the exercise before his status was later updated to disqualified when the list for the examination stage was released.
Reacting to the development, he expressed confusion and frustration.
“I am just 22. I don’t know why they said I’m over aged. It’s traumatic. I’m not happy with what has happened. How can I be overaged at 22 when the maximum age is 25?” he said.
The incident has sparked questions over whether the disqualification resulted from human error or a technical issue within the automated screening system.
Efforts to reach the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anthony Placid, for comments were unsuccessful, as calls and messages to him did not receive a response.
The physical and credential screening exercise took place between March 9 and April 18, 2026, nationwide, while the written examination for successful candidates is scheduled to hold from April 28 to April 30, 2026.
