By Mercy Gadia Adi
The Senate Committee on Police Affairs has reviewed the 2025 budget proposal of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF), pledging to support the agency in its efforts to enhance the welfare, infrastructure, and training of the Nigerian Police Force.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abdulhamid Mallam-Madori Ahmed, during a press briefing after the meeting on Wednesday, commended the Executive Secretary of the NPTF, Mr. Mohammed Sheidu, for his effective leadership and achievements within a short period.
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According to Senator Mallam-Madori , the committee is committed to recommending the passage of the budget by the Senate to enable the Fund to begin implementation. “We have thoroughly examined the budget, and the committee is committed to recommending its passage by the Senate to enable the Fund to begin implementation,” he Stated.
The committee’s review of the budget proposal comes as the NPTF faces financial challenges, including ongoing litigations that have resulted in funds being tied up. Mr. Sheidu expressed gratitude to the committee for its support and acknowledged the financial challenges facing the Fund. “We have our litigations, and hopefully, the distinguished members here have now said how they’re going to intervene in how we can get away with this case, and the warehouse funds, so that we can carry out our mandates, which is to help the Nigerian police force perform their functions better,” he said.
The Executive Secretary emphasized the need for strategic partnerships to overcome funding shortfalls. “Given the funding constraints that we have, we’re looking at how we can have strategic partnerships and alliances with sister or other agencies that can help us,” he said. “We’re looking into different agencies to see how we can actually partner with them to be able to also achieve this mandate of providing welfare, infrastructure, and training for the Nigerian police force.”
The Senate Committee’s review of the NPTF budget proposal is a significant step towards ensuring that the agency has the necessary resources to fulfill its mandate. The committee’s support for the NPTF is crucial in addressing the challenges facing the Nigerian Police Force and enhancing the security of the country.
“We are comfortable, even though there is a lot of issues which we have raised, and we are working very hard within our committee to see that, not only our committee, even with the intervention of the Senate, to see how we can assist the agency to recover most of the Money that were warehoused due to litigations,” Senator [Name] said.
The NPTF plays a vital role in supporting the Nigerian Police Force, and the Senate Committee’s review of the budget proposal is an important step towards ensuring that the agency can continue to provide essential support to the police.