2021 police budget: Reps back IGP on inadequate N18.4b claim

THE Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has urged the House of Representatives to raise the annual budget of the police force.

Adamu said this would enable the police to discharge their constitutional duty of tackling crimes and criminality without resorting to crude methods.

He made the request while defending the Police vote in the budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs at the National Assembly.

Adamu, who told House of Representatives members that the N18.4billion earmarked for the police is grossly inadequate, noted that the enormous security challenges facing the nation require more than N18.4 billion appropriated for it in the budget.

He explained that the police under his watch are determined to provide the desired security for the nation.

“The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as the primary security agency in charge of national security is being challenged by the enormous financial challenges”, the police boss said.

Adamu told the committee that a major target of the budget is the training and retraining of personnel of the force and logistics.

Giving the lawmakers a rundown of the N18.4 billion budget, Adamu told the committee that the N11 billion capital component of the budget is insufficient inadequate for the required logistics.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Committee on police affairs, Bello Kumo, and other lawmakers constituting the committee said the N11 billion budget for capital component was a paltry sum for twelve calendar months

Kumo assured the IGP that the committee would ensure there is proper funding of the Nigeria Police Force.