The Nigerian Police Force and Zero Accountability on 135 Billion Naira VIP Police Revenue

While government and stakeholders continue to lament the challenge of paucity of funds to recruit more policemen to scale up policing and security in the country, revenue estimated at one hundred and thirty five billion naira (N135 billion), generated from attaching police officers to VIPs, banks and other corporate organizations are publicly unaccounted for.  

With the high level of insecurity in Nigeria, the police is an important agency of government, and its health bears implications for the progress or otherwise that the country records in the fight against insecurity. But for decades, the Nigeria Police Force has been challenged by poor funding which has, in turn, resulted in poorly trained, ill-equipped personnel.

A report by the PUNCH  states that the Police Service Commission workers had for one week, locked out of office, the Chairman of the Commission and other management staff to protest against the alleged hijack of the recruitment of 10,000 constables by the Nigeria Police Force. Though the protest was to address the issue of NPF usurping the role of its sister agency, police welfare and government’s investment in the Nigeria policing remain the critical and front burner challenge.

VIP Police and The Low Police to Population Ratio

The new development to recruit 10,000 constable seems a laudable action by the Federal Government given the inadequate ratio of police to the population in the country. The United Nations’ (UN) standard for the police to population is – one police officer for every four hundred and fifty (450) citizen. With the ever-growing population of over two hundred million Nigerians according to the Worldometer and about three hundred and seventy-one thousand, eight hundred (371,800) police officers, according to the Nigeria Police Force, the present police to population ratio in Nigeria is one police officer to five hundred and forty (540) citizens. This ratio is below standard. 

According to a report in 2017, the former Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris said that Nigeria needs to recruit 30,000 police personnel annually for five (5) years to meet UN recommendation. However, to absorb the 10,000 constables, Nigeria Police Force will require just for additional salary (using the 2019 reviewed salary under President Buhari) between N10.08 billion and N10.32 billion given the annual salary of N1,008,000 and N1,032,000 for Police Constable (PC) Grade Level II and Police Constable (PC) Grade Level I respectively.

Police for Hire

The ratio of police to population in Nigeria is 1:540 based on the population estimate of over two hundred million (202,176,065) and three hundred and seventy-one thousand, eight hundred (371,800) police officers in the country. This police to population ratio is below the United Nations’ (UN) standard of 1:450. 

The Police Service Commission in a report published by The Guardian stated that as of 2018, more than 150,000 policemen were attached to VIPs and unauthorised persons in the country. Consequently, every police officer attached to one VIP is denying at least 450 Nigerians access to police security and by extension safety of lives and property across the country.

Despite the alarming rate of robberies, kidnappings, insurgencies e.t.c and the growing population in Nigeria, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 5 in Benin, Rasheed Akintunde said in a report that  over 80% of policemen are attached to either private businessmen, multinational companies, corporate organisation, government officials e.t.c while the remaining 20% are attached to their actual civic duty of safeguarding peace and protecting the lives of the citizens.  

This was corroborated in 2018 when the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Mike Okiro during an  interview with  PREMIUM TIMES, said the police force ‘…cannot afford to have more than half of the population of the Police in private hands…’ likely following the 2015 directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that all police attached to unauthorised and Very Important Persons(VIPs) in Nigeria be withdrawn and deployed to take actions on security challenges in Nigeria. 

Although this exercise commenced, the exercise was delayed as a result of lack of funds. 

According to a report by PREMIUM TIMES, often prominent individuals in the society request for more than 30 policemen as personal protective detail, leaving the bulk of policing work to the remaining officers. Unsurprisingly, the effect of this is ineffectiveness of the Nigeria Police force.  

These police attachees have been reported to be poorly treated by their VIP bosses. A report by Saharareporters in 2018 stated that Ifedayo Abegunde popularly known as ‘Abena’, the Secretary to the Government of Ondo state assaulted a police officer attached to his office as Security Aide during a traditional wedding ceremony of the son of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu held at Landmark Event, Lagos. Although these incidents are often not reported as this case was, the  abuse of police officers on private duty happens often enough to cause concern. 

Government Funding of the Nigerian Police Force

In the last ten (10) years, DATAPHYTE analysis has shown that the Federal Government of Nigeria has appropriated over 3.09 trillion naira (3,087,175,735,420) to the Police service commission with 2019 recording the highest amount (366,133,777,795). 

In the last four years under the Buhari administration, the Federal Government of Nigeria has allocated over one trillion, three hundred and twenty-two billion, four hundred and fifty-three million, nine hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred and ninety naira (N1,322,453,950,590) to the Police Service Commission. The chart below gives an analysis allocations over the he four (4) year period.

In a report by PUNCH 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari approved an enhanced salary structure to the Nigeria Police Force and gave assurance that his administration would continue to pay attention to the welfare and operational needs of the force. “I am pleased to make the increase in salary and allowances in the hope that it will increase the performance index of the police and strengthen Nigeria’s internal security system’’. Following this statement, the Federal Government appropriated over 6 billion (N6,865,973,709) to the Police Service Commission with 249.03%, making it the highest appropriation ever to the service in the last ten years 

Although in 2019 the federal government appropriated an increased allocation of N366,133,777,795 to the Police Formation following the promise made in 2018 on the increment of salaries of the Police. However, the impact of this increment has not been felt by the rank and file of the force who lamented that they were still being paid old salaries, and implied that there has been no implementation of the directive according to an investigation by  PUNCH. 

In 2015, the President, Muhammadu Buhari ordered for the withdrawal of all police aides from unauthorised and Very Important Person (VIPs). The reason for this order was to tackle rising security challenges in the country but this exercise has been marred by the problem of insufficient funding of the commission.

Zero Accountability on VIP Police Revenue

In a report by PREMIUMTIMES, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission said 

‘’The issue of funding is very strategic to the Nigeria Police Force. If you want to police Nigeria as it should be, the entire budget of Nigeria cannot be enough for that’’. His statement corroborates the established fact of the  challenge of dearth of funds to effectively cater to the force as it stands and its ability to recruit more policemen to scale up policing and security in the country.

As a result of this challenge, attention should turn to revenue generated from attaching police officers to VIPs, banks and other corporate organisations, revenue that is thus far unaccounted for. 

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request was sent to the Nigeria Police Force in July 2019 to find out about the number of police officers in Nigeria as well as the number of police personnel attached to persons and institutions that enjoy the VIP attachee services, but the Force did not respond or provide any feedback explaining the delay in response. Also phone calls and messages were sent to the Spokesperson of the Force, Mr. Frank Mba to request for the same information about the amount the Force charges persons and institutions that use the VIP police service. Mr Frank promised to respond but declined several calls afterwards.

Dataphyte investigations from information from senior police officers and crowdsourced information from interactions with some VIPs who use the services of the attaches, puts the gross amount paid per police officer attached to a VIP, at a monthly average of seventy five thousand naira (N75,000) monthly. It was also revealed that an initial documentation fee is paid to the commission which ranges between N250,000 and N1,000,000.

Deducing from the estimate of seventy five thousand naira (N75,000) per police (as provided by various sources as the average amount paid through the special police affairs), a total of N11.25 billion (11,250,000,000) has potentially been generated every month from attaching 150,000 police officers to VIPs. In a year, at least  one hundred and thirty five billion naira (N135,000,000,000) would have accrued to the Nigeria Police Force from VIP police attachees at the rate of 75,000 per month. This sum is about thirty seven percent (36.9%) of the total budget allocation to the Force in 2019.

What can  135 billion naira Do for the Nigeria Police Force?

The implication of this unaccounted revenue value is that it could pay the annual salary of over 132,000 police constables (at an average salary of 85,000 per month) who can substitute for 88 percent of the 150,000 VIP police attachees who are no longer able to perform their original role of protecting the regular citizens. 

Following a report by ICIR and quotation from Aircraft Compare it is certain this 135 billion naira, which is the unaccounted and unremitted revenue generated from attaching police officers to VIPs in Nigeria, will buy 885 Robinson R44 Raven II helicopters at $500 thousand each. This would mean that each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory can own at least 24 helicopters each.

Also, if this revenue from one year of outsourcing police officers to VIPs was used to purchase globally acclaimed shotguns at one hundred and eighty-six thousand naira  ($609), the Nigeria Police Force would have over seven hundred and twenty-six thousand (726,803) Remington 870 Shotguns, powerful enough to stop criminals and accurate enough to help police officers hit their mark. The same amount can buy over three hundred and sixteen thousand (316,159) Colt’s M4-Enhanced Patrol Rifle EPR (16″) sold at four hundred and twenty-seven thousand naira each ($1400 or N427,000 at N305/$1). 

The same amount in a year can buy over six thousand (6136) Toyota Hilux 2018 at twenty-two million naira using PriceboardNG price tracker. This can provide at least 165 police hilux trucks for each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Likewise, the money will buy over one million, four hundred and seventy-five thousand (1,475,409) police bulletproof vest at ninety-one thousand, five hundred naira (N91,500 or $300) using the BulletSafe price.

Way forward?

With the nagging issue of paucity of funds to recruit more policemen, to scale up policing and security in the country, a large amount of revenue generated from attaching police officers to VIPs, banks and other corporate organisations are unaccounted for and does not reflect in budgeting plans. 

This level of irregularity between budgetary allocation and the need of the force begs two questions, how exactly does the NPF prepare its budget? And are the people in charge of approval aware of the budgetary needs of the force and what alternate sources of revenue are available? Is the approval process a rubber stamp mechanism that favors perceived friends?

These questions address the problematic nature of the country’s budget making and approval process. Along the value chain of budget making and approval, the personnel involved should have been able to identify this under-appropriation, query the silence on funds that accrue to the force from other sources, and devise means to manage the insufficiency especially if other sources of funding are properly considered and included in budget planning for other agencies.

The persistence of insecurity and the inability of the Nigerian police to significantly contribute to its end is not unconnected to the insufficient policing of the Nigerian state, itself, a result of unrealistic budgetary planning and provisions, and a culture of waste.