Reps seek end to police barracks rehabilitation through PPP

The House of Representatives, on Thursday, sought an end to the ongoing rehabilitation of police barracks nationwide being implemented under the Public Private Partnership pending the conclusion of probes into previous attempts to implement such policy by former Inspector General of Police.

The resolution of the legislative body followed the adoption of a motion on a matter of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Demsa/Numan/Lamurde Federal Constituency, Adamawa State, Bitrus Laori, during the plenary session.

Leading the debate, Laori observed that the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, 2019 was signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari, on June 24, 2019, to operate for six years from its commencement date and that it will elapse in the next one year.

He said, “Section 5(e) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act, 2019 clearly stated that one of the purposes of the fund is ‘for the construction of police stations, provision of living facilities, such as quarters or barracks for the Nigeria Police Force’.

“The House recall that on Thursday, October 26, 2023, the House of Representatives, on a similar matter, resolved to mandate the Ministry of Interior and Police Affairs to liaise with the Bureau for Public Enterprise to assess the value of all federal—owned police barracks across the country for auctioning.

“The House recognises that annual budgetary allocation for the construction of befitting Housing Accommodation for serving police officers is always being captured in the annual appropriations since the establishment of the fund.

“It is on record that more than N5bn has been spent on renovation of barracks from 2019 to date without any corresponding.

“The House is cognizant that police officers and their families deserve conducive accommodation as against the current situation where they lived in dilapidated structures only fit for lizards and bats, due to large cracks and leaking roofs.

“The welfare of the gallant police officers has continued to deteriorate, making it imperative for the matter of police housing to be revisited.

“The private partnership should be suspended forthwith pending an investigation into previous attempts to implement such policy by former IGPs.”

The lawmakers also mandated its Committee on Police Affairs to review the report of the Ad-hoc Committee tasked to produce a comprehensive addendum to the Police Reform Bill constituted in October 2023.

The House also mandated the Committee to review the previous resolutions passed by the House on the subject matter to guide it on the best strategy for implementing the policy, preventing rendering Police Officers and their families as internally displaced persons and its attendant implications, considering the cholera outbreak in some states across the country.