By Kayode Araba
Police Affairs Minister, Sen. (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam has appealed to the Legislature to increase the 2024 budgetary allocations to the Ministry.
Sen Ibrahim Gaidam said though there is increase in Capital Expenditure in the 2024 budget, it’s still not enough for the ministry, stressing that the Overhead is less than N1bn which was said during the joint committee of House and Senate committee on police affair.
That the biggest challenge of the Ministry is the lack of proper funding. Now you can see from our 2023 budget that the total allocation for the Capital Expenditure was N503 million, which is less than N1bn, while the overhead cost was only N732 million.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee has expressed concerns over the challenges faced by the Nigerian Police Force in carrying out its constitutional mandate of providing security for lives and properties in the country.
This, the Minister and his team, the co-chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Ahmed Abdulhamid Mallam Madori, said the lawmakers has taken into cognizance the enormous challenges facing the Force and are poised in assisting it to fulfill its mandate and as you are all aware, the Police Force is one of the major critical institutions in our country’s security architecture and a major primary agency responsible for maintaining law and order in the society for the protection of our citizens.
However, the Senate and House of Representatives Standing Committee on Police Affairs, we recognize the significant challenges facing the police Force in carrying out its mandate. We acknowledge the dire need to improve their funding to curtail security challenges, ensure sufficient operational capabilities, and enhance the officer’s welfare.
Senator Mallam Madori, noted that the Committee will take into account the current realities carrying challenges confronting the country’s security sector and focus on ensuring that the Police Force is well equipped and equal to the task of maintaining law and order present at the Ministry’s budget defence were the Minister of State, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Permanent Secretary, Inspector General of Police, DIGs, AIGs and Directors
