By Ahmed Akanbi

The Senate has approved a bill to double the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, NPTF, allocation from 0.5% to 1% of revenue accruing to the Federation Account, in a move to tackle chronic underfunding of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF.

The Police Trust Fund Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, was passed on Thursday after the Senate considered and adopted the report of the Committee on Police Affairs.

Presenting the report, Senator Mallam-Madori Ahmed, Chairman of the Committee, said the bill is designed to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for funding the NPF and provide sustainable financing for training, equipment, operations, and personnel welfare.

Ahmed said the legislation will improve accountability, efficiency, and service delivery within the police, while also boosting intelligence gathering and crime-fighting capacity.

Sponsor of the bill and the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, described it as a “strategic national security intervention” to address obsolete equipment, inadequate infrastructure, and poor welfare conditions in the police.

Bamidele said the bill seeks to repeal the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act, 2019, and replace it with a broader framework to meet Nigeria’s evolving security threats, including insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, cybercrime and communal unrest.

“The new bill seeks to establish a more robust, transparent, and accountable funding mechanism.

“It aims to ensure predictable funding streams, enhance operational capacity and technology adoption, improve personnel welfare, and align policing with global standards,” he said.

Under the new framework, the Trust Fund will draw resources from 1% of total revenue accruing to the Federation Account; development levies provided under relevant tax laws; grants and intervention from federal, state, and local governments; donations from bilateral and multilateral development partners; and contributions and endowments from the private sector.

Bamidele said the diversified funding model will reduce reliance on annual budgetary allocations and guarantee long-term sustainability.

Resources from the Fund will be deployed to priority areas including: acquisition of modern security equipment and operational tools, deployment of digital surveillance and forensic technology, construction and rehabilitation of police facilities, strengthening of training institutions, enhancement of intelligence-gathering, emergency response during internal security crises, and improved welfare packages for officers.