The Ministry of Interior has said it would be seeking amendment of the Police Trust Fund Act to encompass other internal security agencies in the country.
The Ministry, in a statement signed on Friday by its Senior Information Officer, Towoju Raphael, said in order to overcome some of the challenges militating against optimal provision of internal security in the country it had become imperative for the amendment to be effected in the Police Trust Fund Act.
The decision to seek the amendment was made during a visit of participants of Senior Executive Course 43 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, in Abuja on the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola where highlights of the successes of his Ministry and the Agencies under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration were made.
Aregbesola said that the Provision of the Police Trust Fund Act held so many potential in resolving most of the security challenges in Nigeria.
He added that the objective of the Act, which was recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, came into force on the 24th of June, 2019 and was to provide a legal framework for the management and control of a special intervention fund for training and retraining of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force and also for the provision of state-of-the-art security equipment and other related facilities for the enhancement of skills of the officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
The minister urged participants of the Senior Executive Course 43, to support the initiative to include the Ministry of Interior which has the mandate of providing internal security for all in the Trust Fund.
Aregbesola noted that it would be an overkill for the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Correctional Service ( NCoS), the Federal Fire Service (FSS) and Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which are key actors in providing internal security, to create a separate Trust Funds of their own to be able to effectively achieve the ministry’s mandate.
He said: “We would be presenting a memo on this to the Federal Executive Council. The objective is to make available other sources of funding to the paramilitary agencies under the Ministry to meet their needs beyond the limited allocation in the Appropriation Bill.”
The minister stated the resolve of the Ministry and its Agencies to strengthen NSCDC and reposition it to become an Elite Corps that will ensure internal security.
Aregbesola hinted that a manpower audit of officers and men of the corps to carry out this task are being put in place to identify gaps both in number, skills and competence. This will no doubt enhance internal security, public safety and citizenship integrity driven by innovation, people, technology and systems, in addition to robust collaboration with critical stakeholders.
He said: “I humbly solicit the support of your Institute in the execution of the various policy reforms of the Ministry which will better position it and its agencies to achieve the provision of security for all citizens. We also require your support in conceptualizing for the Federal Government the need for the full release of budgetary Appropriation on internal security matters, especially at this critical time of national security emergency.”
The leader of the delegation from the Senior Executive Course 43 of the National Institute, Dr Emmanuel Sambo Mamman, said the visit by his team to the Ministry had further broadened their knowledge on the performance of the Ministry, adding that it would help the institute in policy formulation for the benefit of the country.
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