OSUN ELECTION: Delay in payment of officers’ allowances caused by bank, not police – Force PRO

*As police dismisses news reports

By ABIRHIRE THOMAS

The Nigeria Police High Command in Abuja has explained the reason for the delay of payment of allowances to some officers who performed election duty during the Saturday July 16, 2022 governorship election in Osun State, South West Nigeria.

A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made available to The DEFENDER on Friday said the delay did not come from the police but the bank of which details were forwarded by the officers.

“With regards to the payment of allowances of police officers, who participated in the Osun State Gubernatorial Election duty, it is pertinent to emphasize that officers scheduled for the duty had their account details forwarded to the Police Accounts and Budget (PAB) office at the Force Headquarters, where payments were prepared and disbursed accordingly,” CSP Adejobi cleared the air on the matter.

The nation’s police number one spokesman explained that, “The said payment of allowances to cover the election duty was disbursed directly into individual accounts from the PAB Office and not through any State Police Command. As such, individuals started receiving payment alerts even before the commencement of the election.

“However, one of the new generation banks (name withheld), with whom some of the officers accounts are domiciled, reported delays in disbursement due to technical issues. This was immediately followed up and from all indications, the concerned bank have commenced payments.

“All complaints with regards to this have been addressed internally and every officer captured for the election duty have been paid. This situation is noveau as it has not been experienced in the previous Anambra and Ekiti gubernatorial elections. It is fully the bank’s fault and not that of the Force. Officers affected were communicated via SMS and internal memo as to the situation. Continuous complaint on this particular delay in payments which has been addressed amounts to impatience and indiscipline on the part of the affected officers.

“The reports and the news on non-payment of election allowances as widely publicized is misleading and unfounded, and should be disregarded.”