UPDATE: Senate passes Police Trust Fund Bill

The Senate on Tuesday passed the Nigerian Police Trust Fund Bill (HB 1583) earlier passed by the House of Representatives.

The bill was passed barely a week after the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu visited the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in his office to plead for passage of the bill by the Senate in concurrence with earlier one done by the House of Representatives.

The Senate President, after the passage of the bill, said: “By passing this bill, we will be creating big strides towards providing and improving security and the policing in our country.

“One of the major concerns has always been the issue of funding. We believe that this bill will provide the funding needed for training and recruitment.”

The Bill seeks to provide a legal framework for the management and control of the special intervention funds established under the Act for the training of personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.

It will also be utilised to enhance the skills of the personnel of the Police, in order to ensure their efficiency, overall performance, and constant improvement while they perform their duties.

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The Fund will be used to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force has the necessary operational equipment, instructional materials, police stations and living quarters.

Saraki further said: “I am confident that by the time we lay the report on the Police Reform Bill, we would have gone a long way in moving the police in the right direction.

“It is our view that once we have these Police Bills as laws, we will relieve the burden on the military so that it can focus on its Constitutional responsibility.”

The Bill will be transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent by the Clerk to the National Assembly.