The Niger state House of Assembly, on Wednesday, passed into law a bill seeking to establish the state Security Trust Fund, to address security challenges facing the state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The bill, which was an executive bill sent to the assembly by Gov. Abubakar Sani-Bello in September, 2020, was passed into law, after the presentation of a report by the assembly’s Committee on Security and Intelligence, Judiciary and Finance.
Presenting the report, Mr Jibrin Ndagi, Chairman of the Committee, said the law made the state security trust fund to be the depository of all monies received under the law, and that all such monies collected by the Board of Internal Revenue Service must be remitted to the fund within seven days.
Represented by Phalal Bako, Member representing Kontagora 1, Ndagi said the law also sought to address gaps in the funding of security, as the business of security does not rest with the government alone, but a collective responsibility that involved all stakeholders in the business of providing security.
Also contributing, Mr Ahmed Agware, Member Representing Agware Constituency, explained that the law empowered the Trust Fund to charge 0.5 to 1 per cent of profits from contract awards by the state government.
Other sources were business concerns, trade associations, such as the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Power Transmission Distribution Association (PTDA), Banks, Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), whose remittances would be made quarterly.
“The objectives of the fund shall be to provide financial support for the acquisition and deployment of security equipment and such human, material and financial resources, necessary for the effective functioning of all federal, state and local government and other security agencies operating in the state.
”Part of the fund shall also be reserved for the training and retraining of security personnel,” Agware said.
NAN
