Salaries of Police officers to be paid promptly from March — FG

Salaries of Police officers to be paid promptly from March — FG

The Federal Government, yesterday, stated that officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) across the country would, from March 2016, begin to receive their salaries promptly.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who stated this when the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, paid a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja, disclosed that this became possible due to the fact that the Nigerian Police Force had been successfully moved to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS).

She noted that the migration of the NPF to IPPIS was concluded within two months, and was after several efforts, spanning about five years failed to yield any positive result.

She said, “Hopefully by March, what that will mean is that police officers will be getting their salaries a lot earlier. This is because in the past, the delay had been due to the issue of moving the money to the Police, then from the Police down the line to the individual officers.
“Now, it will go automatically from the centre directly to the account of the individual officers. I think that would be a very motivating initiative for the officers of the police force.”

She commended the Inspector-General of Police for cooperation with the initiatives of the Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation in the automation of the Police’s payroll.

“Police has been one of the agencies that we piloted to provide a payroll for this Bank Verification Number (BVN). They have been wonderfully cooperated and done that fully, providing us with all the data, information and insurances that we have needed. We have been able to move our police officers unto the IPPIS system,” she explained.

Adeosun further stated that the Ministry of Finance is currently partnering with other agencies of government to work out modalities for an affordable housing scheme for police officers across the country.

According to her, the Ministry of Financing is aware of the fact that the country needs to find a housing solution for police officers that is both motivating and cost-effective.
She said, “We have had some discussions around housing scheme; we are trying to design finance for housing in the Ministry of Finance. We have already been discussing with the Ministry of Housing. it was very interesting to speak to the Inspector-General, because he had similar heart for his people and for the rank and file officers.

“I assure you that the Ministry of Finance with various arms that we have, like the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company, NMRC, and all the structuring that we are doing to provide affordable housing within Nigeria and the police will not be left out.

“We are going to work together to come up with a scheme for the police officers, which was the extent of our discussion. I just thank him because he was thinking in the right direction like we have had this discussion before.

“ The rank and file, this critical officers who protect us must be carried along in anything we want to do. We will work together on affordable housing schemes that will cover the police officers.”

Earlier, Arase commended the Ministry of Finance for its support to the Police, stating that the Police will appreciate any support that would enable it discharge its duties effectively.

He promised that the Police will continue to ensure that all assets of the Ministry, as well as those belonging to the country are protected, in addition to securing lives and properties.
END