I am attending this public hearing today because the Police Trust fund is crucial to the Police. If the Bill is passed into Law it will largely address the Police funding problems. It will provide alternative source of funding for the Nigeria Police Force for the training and retraining of Police personnel, provide the much needed equipment and machineries to improve on Police welfare and efficiency in the discharge of our Constitutional functions of protection of live and property. It has been stated times without number that the regular source of funding for the Police, through budgetary allocation has failed to address the financial needs of the Police to provide adequate security for the Nation.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE POLICE TRUST FUND:
In the past, efforts have been made to reform and reposition the Nigeria Police Force, for enhanced efficiency and professionalism. The most recent effort was on the 17th February 2012 when the Presidential Committee on the Re-organization of the Nigeria Police Force headed by DIG (rtd) Parry Benjamin. O. Osayande, CFR, OFR, NPM, Mni, was inaugurated with the following Terms of Reference (TOR):
(a) To identify the challenges and factors militating against effective performance in the Nigeria Police Force, and make recommendations for addressing the challenges;
(b) To examine the scope and standard of training and other personnel development activities in the Nigeria Police Force to determine their adequacy or otherwise;
(c) To determine the general and specific causes of the collapse of public confidence in the Police and recommend ways of restoring public trust in the Institution;
(d) To examine records of Performance of Officers and Men of the Police, with a view to identifying those who can no longer fit into the system, due to declining productivity, age, discipline, corruption, and or disloyalty; and
(e) Make other recommendations for the improvement of the Police.
The Committee mindful of earlier Committees on Police reform setup by previous administrations obtained and reviewed their reports. The Committee drew particular inspiration from the idea to establish a Trust Fund for the Nigeria Police Force, as an alternative source of funding from the reform committees reports of M. D. Yusuf in 2008 and that of Alhaji Danmadami in 2010.
In June 2012, the Parry Osayande Committee submitted its report to the Government and a White Paper Drafting Committee, headed by Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, CFR, then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, was set up to study the recommendations of the report and proffer advice to the Federal Government on the implementation strategies, including the setting up of Police Reform Trust Fund. Effort to establish the Police Trust Fund was made then but it did not go far.
I am tempted again to particularly mention the 2008 M. D. Yusuf Reform Committee report whose recommendations includes an estimate of N2.8 Trillion to effectively reform and transform the Nigeria Police Force for a period of five years period. The sum translates to N560 billion annually. Compare this to the N16.1 billion allocated to the Police in 2016 for capital development which only N10 billion was released.
The Reform estimate is expected to be utilized in the following areas:
§ Communication and Information technology Infrastructure;
§ Patrol/Operational Vehicles, crafts and Other facilities;
§ Provision of full complement of Arms/ammunition, Riot Control equipment, Protective Gears, Armoury and Firing/Shooting Range;
§ Forensic Technology/Scientific Aids for Investigation;
§ Operational/Administrative Logistics;
§ Community Policing project/Public Relations;
§ Clothing and Accoutrement;
§ Construction, Rehabilitation and Modernization of Infrastructure/Facilities for Capacity Building (Training);
§ Rehabilitation/Construction of Police Offices/Stations;
§ Rehabilitation/Construction of Barracks;
§ Personnel Welfare.
FUNDING CHALLENGES OF THE NIGERIA POLICE:
To fully appreciate the funding challenges of the Nigeria Police Force, it would be appropriate to compare the MD Yusuf financial estimates of 2008 and the budgetary allocation to the Police in the last five (5) years from 2012 till 2016. The allocations to the Force over the period for Capital Projects and Overhead Costs are as follows:
CAPITAL BUDGET ALLOCATIONS
S/N
Year
Capital Proposal N
Capital Appropriation N
Amount Released & Cash-backed
Balance Not Released
1
2012
49,986,488,369
9,656,295,375
7,035,558,743
2,620,736,632
2
2013
218,831,118,588
14,096,000,000
11,061,463,428
3,034,536,572
3
2014
218,831,118,588
7,340,000,000
3,453,492,502
3,886,507,498
4
2015
345,756,469,886
17,800,000,000
8,900,000,000
8,900,000,000
5
2016
331,000,000,000
16,107,272,000
10,026,818,000
6,080,454,000
OVERHEAD COST ALLOCATIONS
S/N
Year
Overhead Proposal N
Overhead Cost Allocation N
Amount Released N
Balance Not Released N
1
2012
52,380,215,760
8,103,952,375
8,103,952,375
0
2
2013
56,693,843,764
7,683,952,375
7,683,952,375
0
3
2014
56,693,843,764
8,499,861,314
5,228,679,520
3,271,181,794.00
4
2015
71,894,140,124
5,895,797,734
4,838,790,846
1,057,006,888.00
5
2016
90,645,426,172
9,250,565,307
6,369,343,519.18
2,881,221,787.82
What is most worrisome is that though the budgetary allocations on paper are insufficient to meet the financial needs of the Force, the actual releases are far below what is budgeted.
Let me now give you a conservative estimate of the financial needs of the Force, in the area of fuelling and maintenance of Police vehicles, kits for Police Personnel and funds for local travels and transport so that you can appreciate the dilemma of the Force.
THE ESTIMATES FOR RUNNING THE FORCE:
(a) Fuelling of Police Vehicles:
As at date, the Force has a fleet of 14,306 vehicles including 3,115 motorcycles nationwide. On the basis of estimated minimum yearly fuel consumption, the cost implication is as follows:
S/No
Type of Vehicles
No. of Vehicles
Fuel Qty (Litres)
Unit Cost
No. of Days
Total Amount
Vehicles (Petrol Engine)
10,379
30
145.00
365
16,479,257,250.00
Motorcycles (Petrol Engine)
3,115
10
145.00
365
1,648,613,750.00
Vehicles (Diesel Engines)
812
30
200.00
365
1,778,280,000.00
Total Average Annual Fueling Cost required annually:-
Total amount released in 2016: ------------------
19.9Billion
809 Million
(b) Maintenance of Police Vehicles:
Similarly, the average annual maintenance costs of these vehicles are shown below:
S/No.
Type of Vehicles
No. of Vehicles
Unit Cost
No. of Months
Total Amount
1
Vehicles (Petrol Engine)
10,379
1
45,000.00
12
5,604,660,000.00
2
Motorcycles (Petrol Engine)
3,115
1
15,000.00
12
560,700,000.00
3
Vehicles (Diesel Engines)
812
1
90,000.00
12
876,960,000.00
Total amount required for Maintenance Cost annually:--
Total amount released in 2016 Budget:-------------
N7,04 Billion
N486 Million
This brings the total average annual fuelling and maintenance cost of Police vehicles to N26,948,471,000.00 (26.9Billion)
(c) Uniforms and Accoutrement (Kits). In the area of uniform and accoutrement the following are required.
S/N
Cadre
No. of Personnel
Freq.
Unit Cost
N
Total Amount
N
1
SPOs
30,856
1
80,644.00
2,488,351,264.00
2
INSPECTORS
69,008
1
60,000.00
4,140,480,000.00
3
RANK & FILE
198,871
1
40,000.00
7,954,840,000.00
Annual Cost
298,735
Amount Required:---
14.5 Billion
Released in 2016:------
1.0 Billion
The basic requirement to provide adequate and appropriate items of kits for Police personnel annually is N14,583,671,264 as against the sum of N1,752,500,000 earmarked in the 2017 Appropriation. This limitation negatively affects the turn-out of Police personnel.
(d) Local Travels and Transport
As at date, there are over 7,000 Police formations and units across the federation. There is constant movement of personnel of the Force to either quell civil disturbance, contain violent crime, investigation purposes or even routine movement of personnel on transfers/posting within or outside these locations. These movements entail the payment of appropriate Duty Tour Allowances, payment of allowance in lieu of hotel accommodation, etc. Unfortunately, allocation to the Force in terms of Duty Tour Allowances is paltry. It is estimated that the Force needs over N200 Billion for local travels and transport.
Total amount required for Local travels and transport annually:--------------
Total released in 2016:--------------
N200 Billion
N368 Million
...
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