On funding Nigeria Police
Acall for adequate funding of the proposed reform of the Nigeria Police Force took centre stage during the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs’ public hearing in respect of a Bill for an Act to establish the Nigeria Police Reform Trust Fund penultimate Tuesday. The bill was sponsored by Mr. Olamide Johnson Oni. Also under consideration was a Bill for an Act to Amend the Explosives Act of 1964. Inspector General of Police Mr Ibrahim Idris had in his submission called for an optimal release to the Police of N560 billion to enable the force operate effectively.
According to him, the Police are grossly underfunded. He said while the routinely appropriated budgetary allocations are inadequate, they were not regularly released and when released, were usually less that the appropriated sums. the IGP said for instance that out of N1.2 trillion proposed for capital expenditure for the Force between 2012 and 2016, only N65 billion was appropriated. Of this sum only N40.5 billion was cash backed leaving the balance of N24.6 billion yet to be released till date.
IGP Idris drew the attention of the National Assembly to the recommendations of the 2008 Parry Osayande report which called for an expenditure of N2.8 trillion over five years in respect of lifting the Nigeria Police but which was not implemented by previous administrations. He said the recommendations in that report translate into N560 billion as the annual force’s requirement to stay on top of its job. He also said in 2016, only N16.1 billion was appropriated to the Police for Capital development out of which only N10 billion was released.
Some of the areas that call for upward review in funding include rehabilitation of existing barracks and quarters, procurement of arms and ammunition, purchase of vehicles, gun boats, helicopters, surveillance cameras and maintenance of existing stock as well as procurement of kits and basic equipment for officers. Other areas of concern include the establishment of forensic laboratories and up-grade of all Police stations nationwide to be IT compliant, as provided for in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
In his own submission Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar called for the establishment of a Special Intervention Fund for the country’s armed forces that would facilitate their technical proficiency as well as welfare of personnel. He also supported the establishment of the Police Reform Trust Fund. He also recommended a jail term of 10 years without option of fine for anyone who misappropriated the proposed Fund or breached the Explosives Act.
Against the backdrop of ever rising contemporary security challenges facing the country, it is necessary to enhance the police’s personnel, logistic and technical capacities. The Police are the first line of security for the country hence the quality of service delivery by the Force reflects the capacity of the country to respond to security contingencies. Hence the case made by the IGP ordinarily enjoys merit.
However, against the backdrop of the public perception of the Nigeria Police as corruption-ridden system, the advocacy by IGP Idris for more funding for the Force raises questions over the entire performance of the Force. Of immediate concern to the Nigeria public are issues such as corruption, arbitrariness, extortion, lack of transparency, poor maintenance culture in respect of existing equipment, and politicisation that are the hallmarks of the Force. Even the submission of the IGP before the National Assembly failed to acknowledge the substantial financial and logistic contributions to the Police by State governments and private institutions such as banks.
However such weaknesses of the system should not outweigh the imperative of providing for the country a viable Police Force that will offer corresponding responses to security challenges. It is very important to establish the Police Reform Trust Fund but steps must be taken to avoid what happened last time when this fund was set up during the Obasanjo era.