FG installs equipment to monitor police activities

Federal Government has started to monitor the operational activities of the police for effective and efficient service delivery to Nigerians.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, has inspected the monitoring dashboard for the Police Character Certificate, PCC, which is one of the Nigeria Police Specialized Services Automated Project, POSSAP at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Sani-Gwarzo, in a statement signed by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations Unit, Bolaji Kazeem, said the installation of the monitoring equipment in the department would enable the ministry to know the operational activities of the POSSAP and to ensure the supervisory role of the ministry as well as a sense of ownership of the project.

“We would be able to monitor data on police character certificates on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis as well as evaluate the progress of the automated specialized service of the Nigeria Police.

“Gone are the days when police would be working in silos as the ministry’s top management namely Honourable Ministers and the Permanent Secretary as well as the Police Service Department would monitor the process in real-time as the monitoring dashboard would be available to the top management of the ministry,” he stressed.

The permanent secretary recalled that the federal government through the Ministry of Police Affairs launched the POSSAP for the Nigeria Police Force to institutionalize transparency and accountability, and entrench quality service delivery to Nigerians.

He disclosed that the automated Police Character Certificate is one of the 29 specialized services of the police and not a profit making venture, but to improve the quality of services and operations of the Police Force, adding that it is not peculiar to Nigeria alone as it is practiced all over the world.

Sani-Gwarzo listed the specialized services as the Police Character Certificate; Central Motor Registry; Fingerprint; Tinted Glass Permit; VIP Orderly and Escort; Assets/Specie Escort; International Driving Permit; Firearms & Ammunition Licenses, among others.

Earlier, the Chief Operating Officer, POSSAP, Dennis Obeto explained that the dashboard analysis of applications for the PCC indicated the number of applicants from different local and states, and their age groups, noting that 31-35 years applicants have highest request in the country.

He said: “It is live data, currently what is happening on PCC applications is reflected and it is 99% active out of three automated processes. No compliance on police escort and guard and extract despite the deployment of 100 percent technology.

“The statistics on PCC applications indicated that Lagos State is leading with 37.15% followed by Oyo at 9.57%; FCT at 9.25%; Osun at 8.42%; Edo at 8.11%; Imo at 6.59% and Delta at 6.40% while Rivers 5.17% and Anambra 4.92% followed in that direction.”