Federal Government Will Spend N1.5trn On Police Reforms — GEJ

President Goodluck Jonathan said that the Federal Government would spend N1.5 trillion in the next five years to reform the Nigeria Police Force.
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Jonathan made this known at a two-day retreat on “Sustaining Nigeria Police Reforms’’, in Makurdi on Thursday.
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The event was organised by the Police Service Commission (PSC) in conjunction with the Benue Government.
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Represented by Sen. Bala Mohammed, the Minister of the FCT, Jonathan said government was committed to build the capacity of the police force in the country through ongoing reforms.
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Jonathan said that 60 per cent of the money would be provided by government, while the remaining 40 per cent would come from the private sector, including non-governmental organisation.
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He assured that the Federal Government was committed to equipping the police for enhanced performance.
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The president urged the commission to build a police force that was impeccable and committed to ensuring the security of all Nigerians.
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He said the Federal Government had accepted the recommendations of Gov. Peter Obi’s committee on the police and would soon issue a white paper on it.
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He advised participants at the retreat to contribute meaningfully to the topics, noting that such recommendations might help the government to tackle rising cases of insurgency in the country.
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Gov. Gabriel Suswam, in his remark, said that the police had to imbibe the discipline of being accountable to the elected representatives of the people.
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Suswam said that by being accountable, the police would consult widely with the people through their representatives to reflect their views on police reforms.
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The governor said reforms that never reflected the views of the people would be disregarded.
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He called on the police to redouble their efforts in providing security to the people, especially as the country was drawing closer to elections.
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Suswam condemned agitations for state police, pointing out that the country was not ripe enough to have state police.
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In an address, the Chairman, PSC, Mr Mike Okiro, called for a national policy on policing to ensure continuity of policies in the force. Okiro, a former Inspector General of Police, decried the non-implementation of various police reform committees in the country.
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He said that most of the committees echoed the need for police restructuring, training and retraining.
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The PSC chairman also spoke on the need to review the training curricula, upgrading of training institutions and increased funding.
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He said the cumulative effect of the identified lapses was declining morale of the officers which adversely affected them in discharging their duties.
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Okiro said for reforms to be effective, “they must bring about a change or improvement in the status quo by correcting perceived faults, removing inconsistencies and abuses’’.
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He expressed regrets that even the Parry Osayinde’s recommendations, which the government accepted, had not been implemented.
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The Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, said the police management, had aligned its policies with the recommendations of previous reform committees.
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Abubakar said the essence of the alignment was to strengthen the police for effective service delivery in line with international best practices.
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He also appealed to the PSC to approve the decentralisation of the powers to promote and sanction officers.