Ex-officer tasks National Assembly on police fund bill

The Chairman, Association of Retired Police Officers of Nigeria (ARPON), Ondo State chapter, Samuel Adetuyi, has tasked the National Assembly to review its stance on the Nigeria Police Development Fund (NPDF) bill.

He said this yesterday in Akure while reacting to a recent comment by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu on the NPDF, that all monies that comes must go into the consolidated fund.

But Adetuyi argued that the nitty-gritty of how funding will be managed was a procedural matter, adding that what was sent to the National Assembly for approval was the basic method of sourcing for the funds. 

Meanwhile, the NPDF bill would provide a legal framework for the management and control of a development fund set aside for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), training and purchase of technology equipment. 

Besides Ekweremadu’s contrary stance, he lamented that that Bill was sent to the National Assembly in 2008 and that almost 10 years after, the bill had not become law.

He faulted the Deputy Senate President on the stance that there was no way the monies could be collected and handed over to the police, declaring that the Senate leader had over simplified the issue. 

“Nobody is saying that if the bill is approved, the money collected will just be handed over to the Inspector General of Police for them to use in purchasing the necessary logistics. 

“No, of course, the money would go into the consolidated fund and it will be appropriated just like all other needs of the police. It will go through the normal budgeting and then it would be appropriated,” he added.Adetuyi, a retired Commissioner of Police, who recently launched his autobiography titled: Policing in Nigeria: My Story, to canvass for police reform, said the NPDF would allot a specific amount of money to the police in the budget.