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Nigeria Police Lack Patrol Vehicles, Communication Gadgets, Fuel, Despite Receiving N58.9bn In 6 Years

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The Nigeria Police Force has yet to provide adequate patrol vehicles and two-way radios for most of its personnel despite receiving N58.9 billion for capital projects in six years.

Analysis of the police budgets from 2015 to 2020 indicates that the force proposed N115.8billion for capital projects while N58.9billion was released by the Federal Government.

Items in the capital budget include security equipment, air navigational equipment, vehicles and trucks, industrial equipment, books, police stations, barracks, rehabilitation of residential and office buildings, aerodromes, and medical equipment.

In 2020, capital appropriation was N14.2billion but the amount released was N12.billion. In 2019, the police received a N6.3billion capital vote out of the proposed N22,064,903 while N11.9billion was released out of the N25.1billion allocated in 2018.

In 2017, N9,099,136,000 was said to have been released out of the N20.1billion proposed for capital projects while N10, 026,818,000 was released out of the capital allocation of N16.1billion in 2016.

The NPF reportedly got N8.9billion out of N17.8billion proposed in its 2015 budget.

Though the Ministry of Police Affairs allocated N20 million for the provision of two-way radios and security solutions for the police in its 2020 appropriation, there was no evidence that the gadgets were supplied.

Investigation revealed that the police commands and formations had a budget of N2,037,820,626, 202 out of the N7,786,923,450,732 allocated for national security between 2015 and 2020 by the government.

Police officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of sanction, said only senior officers were given two-way radios, adding that policemen on patrol depended on their mobile phones to communicate with their superiors.

This situation, it was gathered, had endangered many police officers who were sometimes unable to call for reinforcement while under attack due to a lack of standard police communication gadgets.

A sergeant, who spoke with our correspondent on Wednesday, said only three officers have walkie-talkies in his department, out of the 12 policemen in the unit.

The traffic officer said, “In our department, only three men have communication radios out of the 12 men in the unit. They are the Division’s Traffic Officer, the Deputy and an Inspector.

“The other nine officers depend on cell phones to communicate with their superiors. And this is the situation in nearly all police stations and formations across the country.”

Policemen on street patrol bemoaned the lack of infrastructure, particularly, vehicles, radios, bullet-proof vests, and other accoutrements as investigations showed that most of them do not wear bullet-proof vests or body armour while on duty.

Checks revealed that many police vehicles are in terrible shape due to the inability of the force to replace them on account of poor funding by the Federal Government.

In the Federal Capital Territory, scores of broken-down vehicles have been abandoned at various locations in Area 1, Garki and a compound located in Idu Industrial Estate, Mbora District.

Research by a civil society organisation, Dataphyte, showed that the N3.5 billion budgeted for “fuel/diesel/lubricant for direct delivery to state commands” in the 2021 supplementary budget could only provide less than 12 litres of fuel daily for each of the estimated 5,556 police stations across the country.

This means each police station, regardless of its operational size, would have less than N2,000 a day to fuel their operational vehicles, besides the cost of lubricants and other maintenance costs.

The spokesman, Ministry of Police Affairs, Bolaji Kareem, explained that the vehicles provided for the police were equipped with communication gadgets.

When asked about the number of police radios supplied to the police with the N20million in the ministry’s budget, he pleaded for time to find out.

He said, “Recently, the government procured some equipment for the police and most of their vehicles are equipped with walkie-talkies and other communication gadgets. But why not call the force public relations officer for more information to your question since it is an operational issue?”

The force spokesman, Frank Mba, could not be reached on Thursday as he did not respond to questions sent to his phone.

The Commissioner representing the media in the Police Service Commission, Austin Braimoh, lamented that many police vehicles were being allocated to the homes of ministers and other top government officials, adding that Nigerians should be more concerned about police welfare.

He said, “Go to a police station and see if they have vehicles. What is their response rate? Go to any of the police divisions, ask the officers the number of vehicles they have.

“Even when new vehicles are supplied, they are taken over by officers and some are being attached to ministers, to guard people in government. The vehicles are not given to those who guard you; they are allocated to the houses of top people in government.”

BIG STORY

We’ll Reintroduce Bill Seeking 6-Year Single Term For President, Governors Despite Rejection — Rep

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Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives, says the push for a six-year single term for president and governors will continue despite the bill’s rejection.

The bill, which was slated for a second reading during Thursday’s plenary session, was rejected by lawmakers in the Green Chamber.

Sponsored by Ikeagwuonu from Imo State and 33 other lawmakers, the bill also sought to amend Section 3 of the Constitution to recognize the division of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.

Briefing journalists on Thursday evening, the lawmaker described the rejection of the bill as a “temporary setback.”

“The struggle to reform our constitutional democracy to be all-inclusive and provide an avenue for justice, equity, and fairness has not been lost,” he said.

The lawmaker added that voting against the bill by the parliament “does not put an end to agitation and hope that we will realise this objective.”

“This is a temporary setback which does not affect the campaign for an inclusive democratic process,” he said.

The Imo lawmaker stated that the sponsors of the bill will review the decision of the House and “find possible ways of reintroducing it after following due legislative procedures.”

“All I can tell Nigerians is that we will continue the advocacy and convince our colleagues to see reason with us. If elections are held in one day, it will reduce cost and rigging,” he said.

“If power rotates, it will help deescalate political tensions, and a six-year single term will go a long way in helping elective leaders focus on delivering their democratic mandate.”

“All hope is not lost, we will continue the advocacy, and we hope that when reintroduced, our colleagues will support it.”

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BIG STORY

65% Of Nigerian Households Can’t Afford Healthy Meals — NBS

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that food scarcity, insecurity, and high prices have led Nigerian households to reduce consumption, with 65 percent unable to afford healthy meals due to financial constraints.

These findings were released in the NBS’s latest General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5) report, conducted in partnership with the World Bank.

The report reveals that 71 percent of households were affected by rising prices of major food items, while food shortages impacted more than a third of households over the past year. These shortages were particularly severe in June, July, and August, worsening the food insecurity crisis.

As a result, 48.8 percent of households reported cutting back on food consumption, according to the NBS data.

“In the past 12 months, more than one-third of households faced food shortages, which occurred more frequently in the months of June, July, and August,” the report states.

“Price increases on major food items were the most prevalent shock reported by households, affecting 71.0 percent of surveyed households.”

“Households’ main reported mechanism for coping with shocks was reducing food consumption (48.8 percent).”

  • ‘62.4% Nigerian Households Secured Less Food’

The report also notes a significant increase in the number of households concerned about not having enough food to eat, with the figure rising from 36.9 percent in Wave 4 (conducted in 2019) to 62.4 percent in Wave 5.

According to the NBS, this surge reflects a rise in food insecurity, with more than half of Nigerian families struggling to meet their dietary needs.

“Approximately two out of three households (65.8 percent) reported being unable to eat healthy, nutritious, or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days. 63.8 percent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should,” the report adds.

“Furthermore, 12.3 percent reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole day, and 20.8 percent of households had to borrow food or rely on help from friends or relatives.”

“In general, households in the southern zones report more incidents related to food security than those in northern zones.”

“For example, in the southern zones, the proportion of households reporting that they had to skip a meal ranged from 50.1 percent in South West to 62.4 percent in South East, while in the northern zones this share varied from 34.0 percent in North Central to 48.3 percent in North East.”

The report further highlights that residents in the south-south zone experienced the highest rates of food insecurity across five out of eight indicators. In contrast, the north-central zone had the lowest rates in six of the eight indicators.

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BIG STORY

POLITICS: Rest 31-Year Presidential Ambition — Bode George Tells Atiku Abubakar

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A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

Noting that Atiku’s bid to be President dated back to 1993, George said it was high time the former Vice President retired from such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, on Thursday, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation and leave his bid to posterity.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in 2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for posterity,” George said.

George decried that the PDP was on the verge of crumbling because people uplifted their personal interests and individual ambitions above national interest.

He criticised the “divisive, arrogant, haughty” members of the party romancing the ruling All Progressives Congress yet failing to defect from the PDP, describing them as cowards.

“We are where we are today because of a self-inflicted crisis; we should bury our individual ambitions now and not allow the PDP to crumble, please. Elders of the party should tell some of these funny characters to cool off and think of our national interest instead of their personal interest.

“Nigerians are angry and hungry. Instead of telling the APC the truth, some divisive, arrogant and haughty members are busy romancing the ruling party and they are quick to refer to themselves as elder statesmen. Instead of instigating a crisis in our party, why are they not bold enough to defect to the APC? Do they really fear God at all? No member is big enough to hold the party to ransom,” George added.

Particularly pointing to the crisis between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, George urged Wike to immediately “cool off” from wanting to “bring down” Fubara.

George said it was worrisome that some party members, rather than bringing the two parties to mediation, further fuelled the Fubara/Wike crisis for their selfish interests.

“My advice to Wike is very simple. You are my political son. I am therefore appealing to him to cool off immediately. I know he was injured by friends during the last PDP presidential contest, but I am advising him as a father to please take it easy. Nobody is bigger than any party. Forget what happened in the past and let us work together in the interest of this party.

“I want to ask the elders at the helm of affairs of our party today, ‘What exactly is the offence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State?’ What exactly is the offence of this gentleman that some elders of our party are trying to throw him under the bus because of political expediency? What exactly is going on that some party members don’t feel bothered about the happenings in Rivers State? Governor Fubara was helped by Governor Wike to become the number one citizen of the oil-bearing state. The governor himself acknowledged this on several occasions.

“Must the governor now behave like a slave to his predecessor and other characters because of this concept of godfatherism which is a misnomer in our politics? Why are some party members encouraging his predecessor to bring him down? He is in Abuja; he wants to control what goes on in Rivers State.

“Did the governors before him behave this way? Why are the party leaders not eager to mediate and bring both groups to normalcy? The PDP cannot continue like this. Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? Is our party jinxed? Why can’t we tell all these troublemakers to go and sit down if they don’t want this party to move forward?”

The National Assembly has amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, prescribing life imprisonment for drug offenders and traffickers.

This decision followed the adoption of the harmonised report by the Senate and House of Representatives on the NDLEA Act amendment.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the Senate Conference Committee, Senator Tahir Monguno, explained that the amendment sought to impose stricter penalties to deter illegal drug activities.

The amendment specifically stated: “Any person who unlawfully engages in the storage, custody, movement, carriage, or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and, while doing so, is armed with an offensive weapon or disguised in any manner, commits an offence under this Act and is liable, upon conviction, to life imprisonment.”

The Senate approved the recommendation through a voice vote during Thursday’s plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.

In addition to the NDLEA amendment, the Senate also passed a bill to empower the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission.

The proposed legislation, known as the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission Bill of 2024, sought to replace the existing RMAFC Act of 2004.

The updated law revises the commission’s composition and operational framework to ensure federal, state, and local governments receive constitutionally mandated resources to address governance and developmental challenges.

Presenting the bill, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Yahaya Abdullahi, highlighted the urgency of reforming the commission in light of Nigeria’s dwindling revenues and growing population.

Abdullahi explained that the bill aims to strengthen RMAFC’s mandate as the constitutionally recognised body responsible for monitoring revenue generation and ensuring its equitable distribution among the three tiers of government.

“The Act, last revised over 20 years ago, no longer reflects Nigeria’s evolving economic realities. This bill proposes additional funding and a restructured operational framework for the commission to improve its efficiency,” he said.

He further emphasised that adequate funding from the Federation Account was critical for RMAFC to perform its constitutional responsibilities effectively, noting that funding challenges had previously hindered its performance.

The Senate endorsed the bill following deliberations and a majority vote.

It now awaits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent to become law.

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