Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called for improved transparency in the handling of police funding in Nigeria.
Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, made the call during a workshop on fiscal transparency and improved welfare for criminal justice institutions.
Rafsanjani, who was represented by CISLAC’s Programme Officer, Samuel Asimi, lamented the poor state of police welfare.
Many Nigerians have linked the endless extortion, corruption, and the viciousness of policemen to poor remuneration, training, and welfare.
According to the Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS), released in March 2011, a police recruit earns a consolidated annual salary of N108,233,00, and a monthly consolidated salary of N9,019.42.
But when N676.46 is deducted as a pension, the recruit goes home with N8,342.96.
A recruit, the lowest in the rank and file cadre, is a person undergoing training to become a member of the police force.
‘Reports of police officers protesting non-payment of allowances in the past should be frowned at by all well-meaning Nigerians’, he said.
‘It is also important that the criminal justice institutions are transparent down to every kobo they receive.
‘We cannot be seeking for more funding if these institutions do not judiciously use the little they currently receive’.
In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a new salary package for police personnel. But details of this approval or the percentages of the increment are yet to be made public.
Source: The Guardian
Photo source: Nigeria Police
