Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has kicked against the deduction of 0.5 per cent of total revenue accruing to the federation account for the funding of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund.
The Forum implored President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to repeal Section 4(1) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Establishment Act, 2019 which authorised the deduction, saying it was unconstitutional.
The governors in a communique, yesterday, signed by Chairman of the forum and Sokoto Governor,Aminu Tambuwal, expressed the concern over controversies trailing the National Water Resources Bill, which was withdrawn by the House of Representatives recently for re-gazetting.
The communiqué read: “The meeting noted the signing of the New Nigeria Police Act, 2020 by Mr. President/ Commander in Chief. While acknowledging the many important innovations in the new law, the forum emphasised the need to make the Nigeria Police Council, which has Mr. President as Chairman and 36 state governors as members, fully operational and the clearing house on all issues bordering on the organisation and administration of the Nigeria Police Force as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
“The forum further observed the discrepancies in Section12(2) and Section12(4) of the Act on the appropriate authority with responsibility to deploy Police Commissioners to the respective States. “Whereas S.12(2) gives the responsibility to the Police Service Commission, S. 12(4) gives either the Police Service Commission or Inspector-General of Police the same responsibility. This is even more regrettable as the constitution gives this responsibility to the Police Service Commission (S. 215)(1)(b). We advise that the constitutional provision be upheld. Forum canvassed for appropriate consultations with the governors of various states on the deployment of Police Commissioners to the states since the Police is a common institution that executes the laws of both the federal and state governments.
“The forum implored Mr. President and National Assembly to repeal Section 4(1) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, 2019 which purports to authorise the President to deduct 0.5 per cent of the total revenue accruing to the Federation Account for the benefit of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, as it is patently unconstitutional. The beneficiaries of the Federation Account are the federal, states and local governments only. More creative funding options should be explored. The forum noted the controversy surrounding the Water Resources Bill, 2020 and noted the stepping down of the Bill in the House of Representatives. It urged for further consultations and public engagement in the processing of the Bill. The Forum referred the Bill to the bodies of Attorney Generals of PDP state governments for advice.”