Police speak on poor funding of stations, corruption, budgetary allocation

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has described as false, a report that N15,000 was allocated to police divisions in the country.

An online news platform (Not The Star) had in a report claimed that N15,000 allocation to police divisions for three months elicited corruption concerns in the NPF.

Reacting in a statement on Friday, October 25, 2024, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the report was misleading and inaccurate, saying no Divisional Police Officer of the NPF would grant such an interview filled with “many derogatory inaccuracies, unless an impostor”.

Adejobi stated: “Contrary to the referred published report that Divisional Headquarters receive no budgetary allocation and that officers rely solely on unofficial sources of funds for operations, including bail payments, the Police Authority maintains that Divisional Police Officers receive statutory funding based on established allocations from the Federal allocation coupled with support from their respective State Governments.

“Any contrary assertion as contained in the publication is not only false but a calculated attempt to run down the system and discredit the police authority.

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“Subsequent upon the highly misleading and scandalous publication, the IGP has ordered an immediate investigation to identify those responsible for this deliberate misinformation.

“While we acknowledge that inadequate funding has long been a challenge for the police, the current government has demonstrated commitment to increasing funding to enhance operations and improve policing capabilities and overall effectiveness. The funding situation, in recent times, has begun to show notable improvement with promising prospects for further enhancement in the upcoming year.”

Adejobi further reiterated the police’s commitment to the principle of transparency in the course of discharging its duties, warning “mischief makers to desist from attempts to detract and malign its progress”.

“The Force will not permit malicious individuals to continue to disparage the institution or slander its dedicated officers who toil day and night to secure our nation,” he added.

The Star