Reps invite AGF and finance minister over delay in 20% salary increase for Police

Ima Elijah 11:52 - 30 March 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari presents 2021 budget proposal of N13.08 trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday, October 8, 2020. [twitter/@NigeriaGov]

Also invited were the Chairman of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, and the Director-General of the Budget Office,<strong> Ben Akabueze.</strong>

The House of Representatives yesterday resolved to invite the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, over the non-implementation of the 20% upward review of salaries of policemen approved by the Federal Government.

The house also invited the Chairman of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, and the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Police Affairs, Hon. Usman Bello-Kumo, who gave the ruling during a public hearing on three bills aimed to enhance the operations of the Nigeria Police, said there was a need to meet with the agencies to ascertain why the directive of upward review of police remuneration had not been implemented.

He said, “This is necessary to have a Police Force that is motivated to carry out its constitutional duties, especially in the wake of numerous security challenges facing the country and also in view of the fact that the country is headed for an election year.

“It is so pathetic that today in the country hoodlums and criminals are truly about to take over the entire security architecture of this country. It is not news and it is not something that is not in the public domain. The attack on the airport, the attack on our rail. All these are attributed to lack of synergy and intelligence sharing by security agencies.”

In his presentation, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, said the move by the National Assembly to amend the Police Act 2020, the Firearms Act as well as the Bill to enact the establishment of the Nigeria Police Intelligence Institute would deepen police reform and reposition the Force for optimal operational output.

The IG who was represented by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sanusi Lemu, however, regretted that since the inception of the Force, it had never had a training institution with the requisite legal status that could drive the capacity development process of the Force at both the operational and strategic levels.