The stinking 2019 Auditor General’s report on Nigeria Police

 

Believe it or not, Nigeria Police is one of the anti-corruption institutions in Nigeria. With enormous constitutional powers to investigate, arrest and prosecute, the law enforcement agency is administratively and legally backed to curb corrupt practices. Indeed, there is a Special Fraud Unit in the police that handles corruption-related issues. Several police personnel are also on ‘secondment’ to anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It is however quite disturbing and heart-rending to see an anti-corruption institution being indicted for what it meant to fight.

Many Nigerian media organisations, both print and electronic, recently carried the unsavoury news of the 2019 Auditor General of the Federation’s corruption indictment of the Nigeria Police. Using THISDAY newspaper of Monday, January 3, 2022 as a source, the report said the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation has disclosed that about 178,459 different types of arms and ammunition got missing from the Nigeria Police armoury in 2019, without any trace or formal report on their whereabouts. Of the figure, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles and 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols from different formations nationwide. These could not be accounted for as of January 2020. This is preposterous!

Details of the missing arms were contained on pages 383 to 391 of the AuGF’s annual report on non-compliance, internal control weaknesses issues in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was submitted to the National Assembly. Referenced AuGF/AR.2019/02, the report seen by THISDAY was dated September 15, 2021, signed by the Auditor General for the Federation, Adolphus Aghughu, and addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly.

The report accused the Nigeria Police headquarters of lacking comprehensive details of unserviceable weapons, lamenting that such could fall into unauthorised hands for illegal use. It stated that the action of the Nigeria Police contravened paragraph 2603 of the Financial Regulations, which stipulates that in the event of any loss of stores, the officer in charge of the store, in which the loss occurs, shall report immediately to the head of department or unit but not later than three days, by the fastest means possible if the loss occurs away from headquarters.

The AuGF report stated, “Audit observed from the review of Arms Movement Register, Monthly Returns of Arms and Ammunition and Ammunition Register at the Armoury section that a total number of lost firearms as reported as at December 2018 stood at 178,459 pieces. Out of this number, 88,078 were AK-47 rifles, 3,907 assorted rifles and pistols across different police formations, which could not be accounted for as of January 2020. Formal reports on the loss of firearms through duly completed Treasury Form 146 (loss of stores) were not presented for examination. Records obtained from force armament at the Force headquarters showed 21 Police Mobile Force Squadron, Abuja, did not report a single case of missing firearm, whereas, schedule of missing arms obtained from the same PMF showed a total number of forty-six missing arms between year 2000 and February 2019.”

The report went further to say that “The value of the lost firearms could not be ascertained because no document relating to their cost of acquisition was presented for examination. The above anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at the Nigeria Police Force Armament. Several numbers of firearms from the review of arms issue register, monthly returns of arms and ammunition obtained from Force Armament, Force headquarters for various state commands, formations, zonal offices, training institutions, squadrons and physical inspection of firearms and ammunition at the Force Headquarters have become unserviceable and dysfunctional.”

It added, “Similarly, returns were not submitted by some police training institutions and some formations and physical verification of firearms and ammunition at the Force Armament, Force headquarters showed a large quantity of damaged and obsolete firearms which needed to be destroyed. The damaged and obsolete firearms and ammunition should be treated in line with Financial Regulations 2618 which requires the destruction to be carried out in such a manner as to render the firearms unusable for their original purpose.”

It is not only the lack of proper records of missing arms that the AuGF’s staff discovered in the audit report on Nigeria Police; the AuGF report also queried the police hierarchy for the award of contracts without evidence of project execution. It revealed that 10 contracts worth N1, 136,715,200.00 were awarded to a single proprietor in the name of different companies, with details of the three companies as the same. The three companies did not disclose their relationship in accordance with the fundamental principles of procurement as required by extant regulations.” So much for the fight against corruption!

The report also indicted the Nigeria Police for paying the sum of N924.985 million for 11 contracts involving the construction of three units of Gunshot Spotter System, supply of 50 units of Ballistic Roller Trolley and 20 units of Ballistic Mobile Surveillance House in some selected commands and formations without evidence of project execution. The report, therefore, asked the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, to provide details of the expenditure to the public accounts committees of both Senate and House of Representatives, account for the funds and answer to other irregularities.

It is very unfortunate that this AuGF’s damning report has further dented the bad image of the Nigeria Police in the eye of the public. It is noteworthy that many surveys and other research have indicted Nigeria Police as the most corrupt institution in Nigeria. One of such is the March 2019 published report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. Of the five major public institutions surveyed, the police emerged as the most corrupt, with the power sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country. Other public institutions identified as corrupt by 70 per cent of Nigerians surveyed are the judiciary, education and health ministries. According to the survey, “a bribe is paid in 54 per cent of interactions with the police. In fact, there is a 63 per cent probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the police. That is almost two out of three.”

I patiently await what the Auditor General’s report will show in its 2020 audit report given the #EndSARS protests of October 2020. It should be noted that part of what led to the nationwide protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police and, indeed, the entire institution was the alleged exploitation, frame up and extra-judicial killings in the Police Force.

The questions are: Are there no internal and external auditors in Nigeria Police? If there were, were they allowed to do their work professionally? How come the Nigeria Police Council and Police Service Commission are not aware of these sharp practises and malpractices? What about the Ministry of Police Affairs? Is it not meant to oversight the Nigeria Police? When the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Nigeria Police go on their oversight duties, what do they check? Did the staff of the Auditor General of the Federation who conducted this audit give a fair hearing to the police authorities to defend themselves either through interviews or queries? Finally, what next after these unwholesome discoveries?

I have always been very sympathetic to the cause of Nigeria Police and have at various times advocated for the Force to be well resourced. However, transparency and accountability cannot be sacrificed on the altar of security expediency. In fairness to the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), a lot has been done to improve the working conditions of the Nigeria Police. The President, way back in 2015, ordered that additional 10,000 constables be recruited every year to increase the workforce of the Nigeria Police. These are apart from those who join as cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police. The President also sponsored an executive bill that led to the establishment of the Police Equipment Trust Fund in order to generate more funding for police operations. A retired Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, was appointed as the Chairman of the Board.

On December 15, 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved a 20 per cent increase in allowances for personnel of the Nigeria Police. This was according to the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi. He said the increments would take effect from January 2022. Other packages announced by the Federal Government include tax waivers for junior officers with effect from October 2021 and payment of outstanding funds for uninsured personnel between 2013 and 2020. This Buhari regime also sponsored the amendment to the Police Act and on Wednesday, September 16, the President assented to the Police Act (Amendment) Bill. The new law replaces its 1943 colonial antecedent, which has regulated the Nigeria Police Force for 77 years with several provisions becoming obsolete over time. As the saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected. The Nigeria Police leadership, inclusive of the Police Service Commission, must shore up the transparency and accountability quotient of the Force in order to revive people’s trust in the law enforcement agency.