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… Police Acknowledge CSO’s FOI Request
The Nigerian Police Force has acknowledged the receipt of a Freedom of Information request by a coalition of civil society organisations to provide details of the N1 billion allocated for the supply and installation of police transit camp buildings and rapid response squad, as well as of procurements from 2018 till date.
The groups, Follow The Money, SERAP, BudgIT and Enough is Enough (EIE), cosigned the letter following the investigation and publication by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), of an alleged misappropriation of N1 billion and the setting up of sham police transit camps project in some states in the North.
In the FoI letter dated December 13, 2021, the CSOs noted that “having observed that the welfare of the police officers is seemingly grossly underfunded and has become an issue of national concern despite the huge allocations to the security parastatal, it has become expedient to request these details.”
The letter further read that “the Nigerian Police Force receives annual budgetary allocations by the Federal Government of Nigeria and state governments alike to support their operations and welfare which in turn has a significant effect on the state of security of the nation.”
The CSOs pointed out that the FIJ report revealed that “These police camps were intended to be a response to heightened insecurity including the violent invasion of herdsmen in Guma, Benue where over 70 people were killed and crops, farms and houses destroyed.”
The CSOs noted that “The reputation of the Nigerian Police is sullied already, which makes it more urgent for the Inspector General to respond to our call for accountability by providing the details requested.
Follow The Money’s founder, Hamzat Lawal, further pointed out that “This year alone, the National Assembly approved a N74 billion Police budget that captures infrastructure, training and retraining of personnel of the police. The security of our nation will continue to deteriorate significantly if the loopholes in our security architecture are not addressed.
“Despite years of funding, the services of the Nigerian Police Force have been below standard as a result of greed, poor welfare and ill-equipped personnel which has resulted in an alarming increase in corruption within the force,” he said.
In line with the Freedom of Information Act, the CSOs have now requested that the Nigerian Police Force provide details of the N1 billion allocation within 7 days of receiving the letter.
Nigeria’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, enacted in 2011, is a law to make public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, and for related matters. The aim in this context is to promote transparency and accountability in public expenditure.
