INEC: Police Lament Non-payment Of Election Duty Allowances

Policemen attached to the Pedro Police Station, Somolu, have lamented the non-payment of their allowances for the 2019 General Elections.

Nigeria police

In a reports received by newsmen that the allowances, which were for election duties, had been paid to policemen in other formations and divisions.

However, cops attached to the Pedro division were said to have been sidelined in the payment.

One of the affected policemen said no one had explained what went wrong to them.

He said, “There are 11 divisions under Area H Command and only Pedro division has not been paid. The allowances for election duties were supposed to be paid once into our accounts. But in our division, from the DPO to the last constable, nobody has received a dime.

VAM News confirmed that the officers among us are entitled to N85,000, while the rank and file are entitled to N35,000. We are more than 100 in number. We have done all they asked us to do and everybody is already fed up. 

In the whole of Lagos State, we are the only division that has not been paid. In other states, it may just be a few names being skipped in a division.”

A sergeant appealed to the government not to deny them their rights.

He said, “The President claims to be fighting corruption, yet we are being denied our legitimate earnings. We have been quiet about it for fear of being intimidated. The total amount that is to be remitted to our division is about N8m.

“What we learnt was that the allowance was supposed to be paid by the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System; we just don’t know what went wrong. We even informed the mother of the Vice President who lives within our division with the hope that our matter will receive urgent attention, but we still have not got anything. We are fed up.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, said the non-payment of the allowances was caused by a glitch in the system.

The PPRO added that the policemen would be paid as soon as the issue was resolved.

He said, “I don’t think the issue is peculiar to Pedro Police Station alone. Majority have got their payment, only a few officers have not received theirs. We have taken the complaint to Abuja because the payment was controlled centrally.

“The officer in charge of salaries is in Abuja at the moment with the complaint. The feedback I got from him was that there was a failure of the payment platform; the money hanged. So, they are reconciling with the Central Bank of Nigeria and once that is done, they will get their payment.

“In Lagos, Pedro division personnel were mostly affected and a few personnel from the task force. There was also a circular from the Inspector-General of Police recently, saying that all commands should compile the names of those affected so that it could be rectified. 

This is not a mistake from anybody or a deliberate action. It is a system failure; so the money has not gone to anybody.”