The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris has lamented that poor budget allocation was hampering the fight against violent crimes in the country.
The Inspector General made the disclosure in Abuja when the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs led by its Chairman, Haliru DaudaJika visited the Force headquarters for oversight function.
Lamenting the poor allocation, he said: “the Capital budget is a far cry from the actual requirement to address security challenges especially violent crimes such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery and to ensure the maintenance of law and order.”
He noted that “the annual budgetary allocation to the Force especially with regards to capital projects and overhead cost, do not reflect the enormous size, scope of responsibility and basic infrastructural requirements of the Force.”
Highlighting the budget performance for 2016, the IG said: “arising from the limitations of funding occasioned by the budgetary constraints, most of the requirements that would enable the Force perform are never met.
“For instance, against a capital budget estimate of N331bn proposed for the 2016 fiscal year, the Force was given an envelope of N16.1bn, while in respect of overhead cost, N9.25 was appropriated as against proposal of N90.6bn.
“Allocations to the Force are grossly inadequate despite the increasing security challenges it has to contend with. It will be observed that in 2016, only 25% of the appropriated fund was actually released leaving a whooping sum of N21,080,454,000 not released as at 31stDecember 2016.
Continuing, Idris said: “The amount released and cash-backed in September, 2016 is being utilized for the payment of completed and ongoing projects. Out of N16,107,272,000 appropriated for Capital projects, only the sum of N4,026,818,000 (25%) was released and cash-backed by the end of the year 2016.
“The non-release of appropriated capital budget has inhibited the Force from accomplishing its set objective of providing necessary tools and infrastructure for the enhancement of its operational capacity and capability”.
He further lamented that the meager funds released has made budget planning and execution difficult.
To however ensure internal security, the Force leadership said the Force needs to procure aircrafts, vehicles, arms and ammunition and other tools.
According to him: “In order to carry out our statutory responsibilities, requisite operational tools and infrastructure are indispensable. Such tools include vehicles, arms and ammunition, aircraft, intelligence and surveillance equipment, bomb disposal and a host of others.
Earlier, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris applauded the Nigeria Police for keying-in to the IPPIS and other Public Finance Reforms initiatives being implemented by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The AGF was particularly pleased that the Police has now been fully integrated into the TSA and is currently being enrolled on the IPPIS platform, which according to him will help to effectively manage the wage burden of the government.
Meanwhile, the IG has also inaugurated a committee responsible for the construction of General and Referral hospital for the Nigeria Police Force.
The Committee which will be headed by AIG Kaumi Ahmadu is expected to interface with partners that will deliver on the project.