President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to immediately constitute the Board of Trustees of the Police Trust Fund in line with the powers and functions enshrined in the Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019 (PTFA).
Experts and other stakeholders made the call during a two-day “Accountability and Transparency Dialogue on Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019” organised by the CLEEN Foundation, in Abuja.
A communique of the summit signed by the Executive Director CLEEN Foundation, Dr. Benson Olugbuo, said that the Minister of Police Affairs should immediately recommend, in a transparent manner, a credible and capable Nigerian to the President for immediate appointment as the Executive Secretary of the Police Trust Fund (PTF).
According to the forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) when appointed should ensure proper transparency and accountability in the operations of the Trust Fund.
“That the Board of Trustees should ensure that the disbursement of funds is based on needs assessment duly prepared by the NPF in a transparent and accountable manner; that the Ministry of Justice should correct typographical errors in the PTFA before publishing the law in the Official Gazette of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“That the Federal Government should ensure the release of all levies and monies due to the Fund by directing relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to comply; Budgetary provisions for the management of the Fund be commenced through the 2019 supplementary budget to the National Assembly,” the communique said.
During the openings of the even, Olugbuo said the PTF (Establishment) Act 2019 (PTFA) is envisaged to enhance the professionalism and mandate delivery of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) through the finance of NPF’s key operations, training/retraining, welfare and purchase of various equipment needed by the Force.
According to him, the PTF is expected to be managed by a Board of Trustees set up by the President, thus the urgent need for effective mechanisms to ensure transparency, accountability and oversight of the Police Trust Fund.
