The Sun News On-line

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro yesterday underscored the severity of the nation’s security situation, informing the House of Representatives that only the whole national budget of N2.87 trillion was enough to effectively police the country.

Contending that the allocation of N202 billion to the police in the 2009 budget was grossly the inadequate, Okiro stated emphatically: “Nigeria Police Force (NPF) would need N2.87 trillion, the entire 2009 budget of the country, to make police more effective.”

“The whole budget of Nigeria would not be sufficient if the police have to be fully equipped as to be able to combat crime in the country,” the IGP stressed.

Okiro who was asked by members of the committee if the N202 billion allocated to the police would be enough to perform, stated that the police needed N50 million to buy dogs and horses but that was not captured in the budget.
According to him, beyond that, N767 million would be required for the training of dogs and horses and the maintenance of vehicles, but those too that were not captured in the 2009 budget. He said the police would be happy if the lawmakers could assist to ensure that the amount was captured.

The police boss explained that in the 2009 budget, N72.7 billion was allocated as overhead and if that was removed from the entire budget, the remaining would not be enough to run the activities of the force.

Okiro gave an instance where a mayor in United States of America (USA) informed him that his county with a population of 30,000 had 10 helicopters for the policing of the community, whereas Nigeria with over 140 million people could not boast of enough helicopters for the effective policing of the country
On Strategic Crime Control Plan in seven cities of Lagos, Kaduna, Ibadan, Kano Onitsha, Maiduguri and Abuja, he said N5.7 billion was allocated, which, he said, was a far cry from what the consultant projected.

Hopefully, the inspector general stated that police would generate over N71 million as Internally Generated Revenue in 2009.
Earlier, Chairman of the House Committee on Police, Hon. Abdul Ningi said the IGP was invited for the budget defence so that National Assembly should do justice to the police budget.