The DPO disclosed in an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters that Divisional Police Offices nationwide are compelled to function on a pitiful quarterly budget of about N15,000 to N30,000.

Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has ordered an urgent inquiry to find the people responsible for exposing the widespread corruption in the Nigeria Police Force and the fact that divisional police offices are given peanuts to operate their operations.

The corruption in the Force has been exposed by a Divisional Police Officer (DPO).

The DPO disclosed in an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters that Divisional Police Offices nationwide are compelled to function on a pitiful quarterly budget of about N15,000 to N30,000.

According to the DPO, corruption might flourish because of this little budget. Police personnel may be motivated to do dishonest acts in order to make ends meet if they lack adequate resources.

The DPO further revealed that most police divisions operate on zero allocation, adding that because the impacted divisions were not acknowledged by Force Headquarters, their operating expenses were not included in the budget.

He claimed that it is nearly hard to eradicate corruption in the Force and that the money obtained via corruption is used to support every police station in the nation.

ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, a Force spokeswoman, called the accusation false and misleading in a statement released on Friday.

He claims that the Nigeria Police Force does not have any Divisional Police Officers who would agree to such an interview.

In addition to claiming that Divisional Headquarters receives no budgetary allocation and that officers exclusively rely on unofficial sources of funding for operations, including bail payments, he said the report is not only untrue but also a deliberate attempt to undermine the police authority and weaken the system.

According to the police authority, Divisional Police Officers are provided with statutory money through federal appropriations that are established and supplemented by state government support.

Part of the statement states: “The Police Authority maintains that Divisional Police Officers receive statutory funding based on established allocations from the Federal allocation coupled with support from their respective State Governments. This is in contrast to the cited published report that Divisional Headquarters receive no budgetary allocation and that officers rely solely on unofficial sources of funds for operations, including bail payments.

Any contradictory claims made in the publication are not only untrue, but also part of a deliberate effort to undermine the police authority and weaken the system.

“The Inspector General of Police has ordered an immediate inquiry to find the people behind this purposeful deception in the wake of the very scandalous and false publication.

“The present administration has shown a commitment to boosting resources to improve operations, policing skills, and overall effectiveness, even though we understand that the police have long struggled with limited budget.

Recently, there has been a noticeable improvement in the financial situation, and there are encouraging chances that it will continue to improve in the following year.

The Nigeria Police Force thus reaffirms its dedication to the principle of transparency in the performance of its duties and cautions those who would undermine and malign its advancement that the Force will not allow nefarious individuals to continue to disparage the institution or slander its hard-working officers who work around the clock to protect our country.”