The Federal Government recently revealed that its full integration of payrolls of the Country’s 42 Police commands and formations into the Federal Government Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) last February discovered no fewer than 80,115 ‘ghost officers’, an indication that the recent ranking of the Force by the World Internal Police Security and Index (WISPI) might be true after all.
Speaking at the Federal Executive Meeting (FEC) in Abuja, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun announced the updated list of the implementation of the IPPIS which cut across all 511 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The data revealed that staff count of the Police stood at 291,685, with gross salary of about N22.3 billion.
Though the Minister did not reveal how much the Government saved from the recent removal of the ghost workers from the Force, she, however, added that aggregate savings in personnel costs for all MDAs in 2017 were about N68 billion.
Before the integration of the IPPIS, Nigeria Police authorities have always quoted the staff strength of the police as 371,800, with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris as at last year, urging the Federal Government to recruit additional 31,000 Police officers annually over the next five years, to ensure effective policing across the Country.
This means that the Country is operating a ratio 600 persons to one Policeman.
In November 2017, the World Internal Police Security and Index (WISPI) 2016 ranking placed the Nigerian Police Force as being ranked the worst in the world.
The study was carried out in 127 Countries and Police was ranked in areas of capacity, process, legitimacy and outcomes and Nigeria failed in all with a score of 0.255.
“There are 219 police officers for every 100,000 Nigerians, well below both the Index median of 300, and the sub-Saharan Africa region average of 268,” the report read.
Though the Force rejected the ranking of WISPI, saying, on the contrary, it is the best in the Continent.
IGP orders and retraction
In March, IGP Idris made an order that all Police orderlies attached to private individuals and companies be withdrawn.
Idris also noted that all State Commissioners must ensure the immediate execution of the order.
No sooner had he made the announcement that he retracted his statement, a few days later, shifting the withdrawal to April 20.
Mr. Idris said the shift was necessary to enable the Force carry out a thorough assessment of the current deployment and carry out appropriate withdrawal.
Idris’ directive in not new to the force as his predecessors have also attempted to cut down on police attached to VIPs and private businesses always to no avail according to available records.
According to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), a body that regulates the police, Mike Okiro, the withdrawal of Police from private attachments have been failing due to lack of appropriate funding.
Close to half the number of workforce attached to individuals
He said more than 150,000 Policemen are attached to VIP’s and other unauthorized persons in the Country.
“We cannot afford to have more than half of the population of the Police in private hands.
“We could not sustain the enforcement of the order on the withdrawal of Policemen attached to unqualified persons in the Country because of lack of fund.”
With close to half the entire workforce of the Police safeguarding private individuals, many believed that the ranking of WISPI is justified.
Most of the Countries ranked as having the best Police Force have workforce lower than Nigeria’s, with the closest being Germany with estimated Police Officers of 243,625.
In 2016, Kenya was reported to have an estimate of 80,000 Police officers, with an order by the President that another 10,000 would be recruited the following year.
An estimated 1,500 Nigerian Police officers leave the service every year through death, retirement, desertion, and resignation but were never struck out of payroll, which prompted the Police to conduct a ‘headcount’ for it officers.
