NASS clashes IGP over Police budget presentation amid calls for flexible funding

ABUJA  – The National Assembly Joint Com­mittee on Police Affairs is pushing to remove the Nigeria police from the Federal Government’s envelope budgeting system, which allocates fixed funding amount of money.

This is coming on the heels of a rowdy session with the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Eg­betokun, while appearing for the defence of the 2025 budget of the Nigeria Police Force.

This move is to address concerns over inadequate police funding ob­served by the federal lawmakers during the 2025 budget defence of the Nigeria police.

Appearing before the joint committee on police affairs, the In­spector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, lamented that the cur­rent budgetary constraints hinders effective operational planning and service delivery of the police.

While the IGP was presenting the budget, the Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Peter Onyekachi Nwebonyi, raised a point of order, calling the attention of the commit­tee to the presentation of the IGP which, he said, was different with the copy with him.

“We are here to serve Nigerians, and Nigerians should see us as a very serious institution. We are not against the presentation of the IGP but I as a senator should have what the IGP is reading. At the moment, what the IGP is reading is different from what I have with me,” he said.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Abdulhamid Ahmed, said the leadership of the committee had already taken a decision to allow the IGP take abridged version of his pre­sentation.

“It is our decision within the committee leadership to allow the IG to summarise his presentation,” he said.

But Nwebonyi said no and in­sisted that the copy that the IGP was reading should be made available to members.

The committee chairman amid the confusion put the matter to vote and majority of the members agreed that the IGP should continue with his abridged presentation.

Nwebonyi immediately rose in annoyance, saying, “I will then leave”, as he packed his files and walked out of the committee room with other members chanting “leave, leave.”

Hon. Stanley Adedeji, Chair­man, ICT, House of Representatives, argued that a more flexible budget­ing approach would better support the police in enhancing national se­curity and effective communication.