By Tordue Salem
ABUJA—The House of Representatives Committee on Police has queried the Nigeria Police Force over a monthly expenditure of N12.1billion as personnel cost since January this year.
Mr A.S Iyaji, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of budget had submitted to the committee the 2009 budget performance, which contained N12.1billion as amount being paid monthly as personnel cost.
But the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abdul Ahmed Ningi (PDP/Bauchi State) disagreed with the mode of expenditure, wondering why there was no disparities in the releases made, even with reports of dead and retire police personnel.
According to Ningi, “Mr Deputy Commissioner budget, why is your releases for personnel cost is consistently N12billion from January to date, whereas there are cases when about 2,0 30 policemen are killed in a month, and others retired”.
“We have instances where policemen are get killed or die naturally but their salaries are still being paid but the families of the deceased are not getting the money, the money is being hijacked by the bureaucrats,” he declared.
However, Mr Iyaji denied the allegation, saying that in the documents submitted to the committee, there was variation in releases to the various police formation in the country.
According to him, the police budget only had list of personnel submitted by the heads of various police commands and that in each of the commands there are auditors to cross check any payment made.
Iyaji also told the committee that the Nigeria Police Force has only N145.5bn out of the N204bn appropriated for the 2009 fiscal year.
However, he said N59.4billion is still outstanding, stressing that N121.3billion was for personnel cost, N15.9 billion for capital and N9.019billion for over head cost.
Also, he revealed that N3.5billion has been released for the seven cities security pilot scheme programme but added that the money is still with the Ministry of Police Affairs.
According to him, N172.2 billion was budgeted for the personnel cost, N10.8billion for overhead cost, N21.3billion capital expenditure and N10.8 billion for overhead.
But the Committee members said they were not satisfied with the explanation offered by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of budget and summons the Minister of Police Affairs ,Dr Yakubu Lame and the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonnaya Onovo to appear before the committee.
frankly there so no amount that is too much for law enforcement aimed at protection of lives and properties most especially in Nigeria at this time. But the police authority must have a lot to show for it. i will support spending much more so long as we are seeing the result. And one good thing is that if the money is being spent well the result will be glaring for all to see by way of crime reduction to the barest minimum being carried out by real and well trained professional police force. I believe we can do this.
What of the numerous new recruits that come into the force regularly. With epayment system no more ghoast Police men . The IG should hence forth send competent and courageous officers to represent the police and not vegetables who treble in front of politicians.
The unfortunate thing is that by this time tomorrow, Rep. Abdul Ahmed Ningi (PDP/Bauchi State) will voluntarily forget that he saw any discrepancies.
They are touch and go committees.
Also where is the declaired revenue stream from all the police officers on private security details? More officers are doing that than securing the streets for the Nigerian people
We are reading about 12.1 billion Naira spent by the police on the police personel, what about several billion naira more that the police personel on the streets and Nigeria roads taking in on daily bases from the citizens of Nigeria?. I personally withnessed some mobile police men taking 40 Naira from each of the commercial and the Sand carriers drivers plying Epe express way at Lekki. The same thing is been perpetrated on Agege-Abeokuta moter road. Is the head of the police turning blind eye to this curruption by the police or they just love the citizens been raped of their hard earned money by these nonentities called the ploice personel who are spending 12.1 billion already.
has this man never heard of ghost policemen…please let sleeping policemen lie…
Nigerian police has always been sloppy and greedy.
They assume that they are the only people that protect the nation.
No matter how much they make, they would still complain for more.
I would likean appropriate police auditing from the personnel accounting
to material inventory including seized druggs and other items.
If the police ever pass public inventory audit, I would eat a pair of my shoe.
At moment, they still present the same routine financial figure statement
despite that some police die naturally, some killed in action, fired, resign
as their case may be, some one is sucking the absentee police wages.
Who must that be, is it shared amongst the elites, or dead police ghosts?
We also want to see justice for the police and the entire taxpayers.
We should now start asking if President Yar’Adua is up to the task of being an effective President Nigeria with all that is happening around us? It is time now for the Senate, the house of representatives and the cabinet, to ask that the President gives Nigeria a clean bill of health as regards his mental and fisical fitness to be an effective President. They should bring in very emminent and impartial medical examiners, to do this and report their findings to the them and the nation. Nigeria can not and must not continue like we are doing, just coasting around. They have a legal and constitutional power and responsibilty to the Nation to do this. They must not pussy foot any futher with this as allowing the statisquo ante to continue is not and will not be option. Time is running out and very fast too.