Nigeria’s House of Representatives is to interface with the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmad over non-implementation of the 20 percent salary increase approved by Mr. President to the Nigeria Police Force.
Other stakeholders expected at the interface include Salaries and Wages Commission and the Accountant General of the Federation.
Chairman of the House committee on Police affairs, Usman Bello-Kumo called for the interface in Abuja while at a public hearing on three police related bills aimed at strengthening the Police Force for efficiency and service delivery.
Bello-Kumo who lamented the non-implementation of the approved remuneration despite the increase of the police force 2022 budget with N10 billion stressed that the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC are supposed to be taken care of adequately especially now that transition of government was under way.
Earlier, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila assured that the House would do everything within its ambit to pass the law in order to address security challenges in the country.
Amendment of Firearms Act
The Inspector General of Police, IGP, Usman Baba and other key stakeholders represented at the hearing said they aligned with the National Assembly in the amendment of the firearms Act and other concerned bills being proposed.
The bills under consideration are: for an Act to amend the Nigeria Police Act 2020 to regulate the powers of the police to promote effective collaboration between the police and other security agencies and to provide for the operational framework for community policing in Nigeria.
Other bills are for an Act to amend the Firearms Act 2004 to increase the fines, provide for strict prison terms and licensing fees as well as for an Act to provide for the establishment of Nigeria Police intelligence institute.
This is coming one day after an attack on a train carrying passengers to Kaduna, administrative headquarters of Northern Nigeria from the nation’s capital Abuja and three days after a similar attack on the Kaduna International Airport.
The two attacks claimed the lives of many Nigerians and some attributed it to what they termed apparent collapse of national security and intelligence gathering coordination as well as compromise.
Recall that Junior Police officers had threatened to embark on a warning strike on March 26, to protest against poor Welfare and poor working conditions.
Confidence Okwuchi
