THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command booked 42 AK-47 rifles and pistols as well as 737 live ammunition in 2 years, but it neither returned nor re-booked them, according to the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF).
The AGF said police personnel under the command booked live ammunition and firearms from the FCT CID between 2021 and 2022, but its failure to return or re-book them made it difficult to verify the existence or otherwise of such arms.
This is contrary to Section 333 (xii) of the Nigeria Police Act and Regulations which states that “the inspection of police personnel returning to the police station from beats and patrol duties, or other duties, and the ensuring that entries are made in the Station Routine Dairy recording the return and the time of return of such personnel from duty; of the return of such personnel of any arms, ammunition and other special equipment; and of other routine matters that require to be made subject of a permanent record.”
The AGF stated that the anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system of the FCT Police Command Headquarters, Abuja. The nation’s chief auditor said the act led to the loss of arms and ammunition, noting that they risked falling into wrong hands or being misused.
In a response, the FCT Police Command said, “Supreme Court division is an offshoot of Asokoro Division and has no functional armoury where arms and ammunition can be kept. Consequently, the arms and ammunition of the division are kept at Asokoro division, which has a functional armoury for safety.
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“However, due to logistics problems bedevilling the force and the risk of losing firearms to criminals by officers going to their various beats by public transport, the officers are made to stay with their firearms at their various beats. At the same time, a routine register handling and taking over of arms and ammunition are carried out under close supervision of the supervision officer on routine checks.”
The command said all the 11 firearms in the auditor’s report were intact and serviceable. The police command said auditors were at liberty to visit the division, and the firearms would be withdrawn for physical inspection. “In compliance with the audit report, the officers and men were called upon to the office to update and rebook the arms in arms moovement register for proper record keeping. Also, measures have been taken to discourage officers from not returning and rebooking their arms,” the FCT PPolice Command noted.
The AGF noted the command’s reponse but said the explanation was not satisfactory. The AGF recommended that the then Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Usma Alkali Baba, account to the Public Account Committees of the National Assembly why firearms booked by officers were not returned and re-booked in line with the provision of the Nigeria Police Act 2020.
The AGF also recommended that the IGP account to the committees of the National Assembly the whereabouts of the arms and ammunition, including the live bullets, failure of which must attract sanctions in line with Paragraph 3129 of the Financial Regulations (2009).
IGP Baba left office in mid-2023.
Unauthorised conversion of exhibits for operational use
The Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) also accused the FCT Police Command of unlawfully converting a vehicular exhibit – a Golf 3 Saloon car recovered during an operation – into a patrol vehicle by the Mpape Police Division. According to the AGF, “There was no documentary evidence from the Divisional Police Officer authorising the use of the vehicular exhibit for operational purposes.”
Unaccounted firearms, other exhibits
The AGF further revealed that 24 exhibits were recovered in the exhibit register maintained by the Special Anti-Violent Crime Section of the CID in 2021 and 2022, and “the team of auditors were denied access to the exhibit room to verify its existence on the ground that it was under lock and key, thereby making practically impossible to verify the exhibits.”
The AGF disclosed that the new exhibits keeper “declined knowledge of the wherabouts of the exhibits and said that he could only account for the items he received from the day he asumed duty as exhibit keeper.”
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The FCT police, in its response, argued that as at the time of audit inspection at the D5 Anti-Violent Crime Section, the exhibit keeper was “involved in a severe motor accident at Giri Junction along Airport Road, Abuja sometime in 2022, and still was unable to stand on his feet till date. The officer in charge of the anti-Violent Crime Section took inventory of all exhibits under lock and handed over the same to the present exhbit keeper for continuity.”
The AGF acknowledged the response from the police but said it was not satisfactory, urging the IGP to account for the 24 exhibits to the Publlic Accounts Committee of the National Assembly or be sanctioned in line with Paragraph 3129 of the Financial Regulations (2009).
Economy Post had earlier reported that the AGF had accused the National Pension Commission (PenCom) of paying N7.261 billion to 2,863 unidentified beneficiaries of deceased Federal Government employees in 2022 through different Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) without details.
He also accused the National Assembly Service Commission of inflating a contract worth N11.647 billion, while paying a contractor without approval.
The AGF also alleged that Ministry of Mines and Steel Development committed multiple acts of fraud, ranging from an inability to account for over N5 billion to the payment for a road contract without evidence of execution.
