Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday had a piece of advice for the police urging them to remain politically-neutral and ensure the success of next year’s elections.
The President restated his commitment to free, fair, transparent and credible polls at the opening of a conference and retreat organised for senior police personnel in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
“I re-affirmed on the global stage that ‘as President, I have set the goal that one of the enduring legacies I would like to leave is to entrench a process of free, fair, transparent and credible elections through which Nigerians elect leaders of their choice.
“In my address at the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 19, 2017, I made it very clear that ‘our faith in democracy remains firm and unshaken”.
In reinforcing my commitment during my farewell speech at UNGA’s 77th Session on September 21, 2022, I noted: “We have invested heavily to strengthen our framework for free and fair elections’ and hence, I re-affirmed on the global stage that as President, I have set the goal that one of the enduring legacies I would like to leave is to entrench a process of free, fair, transparent and credible elections through which Nigerians elect leaders of their choice.
“It has been my experience that a democratic culture provides a government with the legitimacy it needs to deliver positive change.
“This informed my disposition to strengthen the legal frameworks and enrich our legal processes as exemplified by my assenting to the amended 2022 Electoral Bill on February 24, 2022”.
Buhari acknowledged the effective policing system to the growth of democracy and attainment of socio-economic development.
He said: “There must, therefore, come a time in the life of a nation when the people and government must, in national security interest, frontally address challenges that have historically, been negatively impacting on public trust, partnership, and institutional efficiency of the policing agency. For us as a government, we recognise that the time is now.”
The President said his administration prioritised critical reforms in the Police in order to reposition it to effectively fulfill its internal security and democratic governance mandates in conjunction with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other strategic agencies in the electoral process.
“It is in cognizance of this that our administration has prioritized critical reforms in the Nigeria Police Force in order to reposition it to effectively fulfill its internal security and democratic governance mandates in conjunction with the INEC and other strategic agencies in the electoral process.
“In furtherance to this, I assented to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Bill to provide legal framework for an enhanced funding regime for the Force. Similarly, I assented to the Nigeria Police Academy Bill to grant statutory recognition to the institution and position it effectively to attain its young and futuristic manpower development programmes.”
The President said he approved a new salary and welfare regime commensurate to the dictates of critical policing.
He also noted that the release of funds for the annual recruitment of 10,000 police constables was to address the wide manpower gap in the Force.
Inspector-General (IG) Usman Alkali Baba also thanked the president for his unflinching support to the growth and sustained progress of the police.
Packaged by Alice Egbedele
