There was a heated argument during a 2025 budget defence session on Thursday at the National Assembly as lawmakers sought to make sense of the details in last year’s budget of the Nigeria Police Force.
Trouble began when the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, was providing a breakdown of funds allocated for the construction of five zonal police headquarters across the country.
Egbetokun had barely started his presentation when a member of the House of Representatives, Mark Esset, from Akwa Ibom, interjected, questioning why the details being read by the IGP were not contained in the documents provided to him.
However, it was Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, a member of the All Progressives Congress and a Principal Officer, who escalated the situation. He insisted that, as a senator, he should have the appropriate copy of the document the IGP was presenting.
Nwebonyi, who represents Ebonyi North, stated: “We are here to serve Nigerians, and Nigerians should see us as a very serious institution.
“We are not against the presentation of the IGP. But I, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, should have what the IGP is reading.”
Efforts to clarify his point were drowned out by shouts and rowdiness. The situation escalated further when the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, Honourable Abubakar Makki Yalleman, overruled Nwebonyi’s Point of Order, allowing the IGP to continue his presentation.
Incensed, Nwebonyi packed his belongings and stormed out of the budget defence session. As he exited, he exchanged heated words with several House of Representatives members who jeered at him.
Yusuf Gagdi, a member of the House of Representatives representing Panshin/Kanam/Kanke Federal Constituency of Plateau State, expressed disappointment at the incident. He explained that the committee’s decision to allow the IGP to continue speaking was in line with established parliamentary procedures.
Gagdi added that it was inappropriate for lawmakers to interject when they did not have the floor.
Once calm was restored, the IGP resumed his presentation, highlighting that the police are grossly underfunded and calling for an end to the “envelope” budgetary system.
On recruitment, Egbetokun disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had increased the yearly recruitment quota from 10,000 to 30,000, a move he said would significantly enhance the Force’s performance.
He urged the National Assembly to assist the police in delivering on their mandate.
“Otherwise, we are entirely dependent on budgetary allocations.
“We are glad that this committee has recognised the gross underfunding of the police,” he concluded.
