Joy Anyim
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have called for a review of the Act establishing the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF), citing bureaucratic bottlenecks, amongst other inconsistencies in the Act, as major shortfalls.
The CSOs, during a press briefing recently, in Lagos State, drew attention to the lopsided constitution of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of NPTF, which it said, defiled the Federal Character principle.
Recall that the NPTF, which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, in June, 2019, and the BoT constituted, in 2020, was mandated to cater for the funding deficit of the police.
The Nigerian Xpress reports that the NPTF was obligated to provide funds for equipment, training and retraining of personnel to ensure operatives perform the task of protecting lives and properties.
Speaking for the CSOs during the press briefing, Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, revealed that although the board is expected to meet five times a year, it was not known if the board have had any meeting.
He said the CSOs and other stakeholders had, in a bid to review the implementation and impact of NPTF, held a roundtable, in Abuja, in June, organised by RULAAC and Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), in partnership with Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI).
Mr. Nwanguma, however, stated that participants at the roundtable had expressed displeasure with the performance of NPTF which he said an amendment of the Act will address.
He said, “The structure of the NPTF makes it impossible for it to operate like a trust fund. The trust fund is modeled like every other parastatal with layers of authority and approvals- Executive Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs and the Federal Executive Council. The provision for an implementation committee and additional committees is needless bureaucracy.
“There’s a limit to how much the Executive Secretary of the NPTF can approve. Beyond that limit, it has to go to the Minister of Police Affairs or to the Federal Executive Council.
“It even took the president one year to constitute the board and when he finally did, he filled it with party loyalists.
“The Minister of Police Affairs also has a lot of influence on the board, and the composition of the board does not meet Federal Character. What is a retired Inspector General of Police (IGP) doing as the chairman of a trust fund. It cannot work.
“What is the justification for making a retired IGP a chairman of the NPTF, what experience does he have in financial management.
“People who should run the NPTF should be people who are selected based on their qualification, competence and suitability, not based on political affiliations. Amend the act to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Like we know, the Federal Government has not been able to adequately fund the police. What the Federal Government budgets for the police looks like is a contribution rather than an actually effort to fund the police.
“Thirty-eight million Naira budgetary allocation for the police for operational vehicles for one year is grossly inadequate, and it was in a bid to find a solution and address the deficit in police funding that the NPTF was found.
“It might interests you to know that the idea of NPTF originated from CSOs, and we contributed in the advocacy that led to the passage of the Act.
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“The idea is to provide a trust fund that will be able to fill gaps where normal funding cannot address.
“The NPTF is established to provide additional funding for the police and enhance the capacity of the police to protect Nigerians, to perform their duties in the security of lives and proprieties.
“What even made this intervention urgent, is the fact that police stations have been attacked. Policemen have been killed, so we are looking at how can the trust fund help.
“But it is sad that the board cannot take quick decisions, but has to go through layers of bureaucracy and bureaucracy slows down speed.”
On some of the observations made at the Round Table and efforts by the CSOs to effect the needed change in the Act, Mr. Nwanguma said: “The representative of the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force spoke on the dire funding deficit for the police and the need for the NPTF to be effectively managed to fulfil its mandate of filling the funding gap for the NPF, especially assisting with providing the enabling environment, tools, infrastructure, training and retraining to enhance police operations.
“Participants asserted that the Trust Fund is set up for a third party which is the beneficiary (the NPF) and the beneficiary group should not be a trustee. The police, being the beneficiary should not be part of the trustees
“Participants were informed that the NPF did needs assessment between September and October 2020 which showed that the NPF would need, at the minimum, 1.8 trillion Naira for one year.
“The needs were collated from all the police departments from A-G. And these were priority needs. It included police operational vehicles, arms and ammunition, protection gear, communication gadgets, accoutrements.”
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The CSOs pointed out that the NPTF as a quick intervention mechanism needs speed and should not be subject to legislative appropriation.
“It should be a first line charge. It should have nothing to do with budget. It should not be trapped in bureaucracy. The IGP should be able to prepare a memo and send to the NPTF itemizing the immediate needs of the police and the BoT should be able to speedily take decisions.
“The trust fund should be more reliant on private funds than on government resources. The PTF should speak out on their challenges and engage with civil society who can amplify their challenges and needs.
“The PTF should also work with the federal inland Revenue which should assist with other sources of PTF funds such as taxes. Police has received zero fund from the PTF. The purpose of the PTF appears defeated two year after,” Mr. Nwanguma said.
With the recent burning down of police formation in the country, the CSOs also urged the NPTF to come handy with the repairs of damaged police infrastructure.
Making recommendations on the way forward and using the Lagos State Security Trust Fund as a standard, the CSOs said, “Like the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, the Trustees should make all the decisions. Emphasis on the use of security trust fund is speed: to enter into gaps that normal funding cannot address and address quickly
“There is the need to look into the Act establishing the NPTF, identify all the barriers and amend the Act as appropriate. The PTF should report to the National Assembly not to the President. The staff should not be civil servants seconded from different ministries
“The NPTF needs to collaborate with relevant stakeholders such as Civil Society and the Federal Inland Revenue. The NPTF must become visible, engage and communicate what they are doing and their challenges.”
The CSOs assured that the struggle to ensure the NPTF functions in its true capacity will continue as funds released for specific projects and interventions will also be monitored to ensure they are used for the said purpose.
“We will also monitor to ensure that when funds are released to the police, they use those funds in a transparent and accountable manner,” Mr. Nwanguma added.