Members of the Nigeria police force are not satisfied with the percentage in pay rise even though the police authorities have started implementing the salary increase for police officers.
Some officers in the Nigerian Police Force have voiced concerns over the Federal Government’s promised increases in their new allowances’ late implementation and reduction.
According to information obtained by our correspondent, the government’s new police allowance, which was announced last year, is now in force but falls short of expectations.
Many police officers have, in the meantime, turned to alternative methods of subsistence after complaining that their take-home income is no longer sufficient to support them.
A “peculiar allowance” for the police was agreed by Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired) during a Federal Executive Council meeting on December 15, 2021, to start in January 2022.
After the meeting, Maigari Dingyadi, the minister in charge of police affairs, told the media that the allowance will improve police employees’ take-home pay by 20% above what they currently earn. He said that the pay raise was a result of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s efforts to accommodate the protesters’ #EndSARS demands.
The wage increase would soon take effect, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Baba, promised on March 23 during his visit to the Lagos State Police Command.
He claimed that all relevant government organisations, including the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and the National Salaries and Income and Wages Commission, had completed the computation of the salaries for every member of the Force.
Although the police authorities alleged a lack of funding on the police cost line, the new compensation structure was ultimately postponed because it could not be updated in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
This was stated in a document titled “Salary Arrangement and Non-Implementation of Upgrade of Newly Promoted Officers and Addressed to Officers across Police Formations,” which our correspondent was able to get.
The document, which was dated June 22, 2022, and disseminated through the police wireless message, stated that the upgrade would affect the payment of salaries if implemented.
The document read, “Salary arrangement and non-implementation of upgrades for newly promoted officers.
“According to information received on June 22, 2022, from the PAB office in Abuja, there is insufficient funding on the police personnel cost line, and if personnel promoted are upgraded to their next grade levels and steps, the police authority will be unable to pay salary.”
“The document, which was signed by the office of the Chief Financial Officer, Force Headquarters, however, indicated that the authority is making frantic efforts to ensure police personnel costs are augmented to absorb the cost implications of upgrading newly promoted officers.”
Hyacinth Okolo, the Chief Financial Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, who signed the document, told our correspondent that it came from his department. Okolo, who did not give our correspondent much time with him, said he would phone again, but he still hadn’t. Later, attempts to contact him proved fruitless.
The police officers’ aspirations, however, were disappointed when the promise was eventually kept but fell short of their expectations.
According to information obtained by our correspondent, the allowance was included in the pay that was received in August, but the calculation fell short of the 20% that had been promised.
Additionally, it was discovered that while the officers had received their July and August arrears, the ones remaining owed for the months of January through June had not been paid.
