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2007 Assessment

Nigeria: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Nigeria: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Law Enforcement
Indicators		Score
80	Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective?	33
81	Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions?	67

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective?

80a: In practice, appointments to the law enforcement agency (or agencies) are made according to professional criteria.

Score:

100

Comments: The Nigerian Police and Drug Law Enforcement Agencies are the two top law enforcement agencies. Appointments to their leadership positions, while being based on professional qualifications, are also colored by loyalties like connections and ethnic biases. Political loyalties are not a big factor, but the process is most times based on who wields the most influence. Recruitments in the lower cadre are also sometimes subject to connections.

References: 1. Dorothy Gimba, assistant commissioner of Police, Head Anti-Trafficking Unit, WOTCLEF's Abuja Office, Sept. 23, 2007; 2. Dapo Olorunyomi, chief of staff to the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, CDD Office, Sept. 13, 2007

80b: In practice, the law enforcement agency (or agencies) has a budget sufficient to carry out its mandate.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has a budget sufficient to fulfill its basic mandate. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has limited budget, generally considered somewhat insufficient to fulfill its basic mandate. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has no budget or an obviously insufficient budget that hinders the agency\'s ability to fulfill its mandate.$

Comments: The Nigeria Police Force is grossly under-funded and has many times been unable to carry out its core mandate because of lack of equipments and sufficient manpower. Its management is also accused of being corrupt and has recently been involved in scandals of embezzlement of establishment funds. The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement has little more funds to carry out its mandate because it has considerably less manpower than the police force.

80c: In practice, the law enforcement agency is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments: The agencies initiate investigations on their own, but many times they are influenced by family, governmental and other loyalties in enforcing their mandates. These agencies are really open to manipulations.

Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions?

81a: In law, there is an independent mechanism for citizens to complain about police action.

Score:

YES

Comments: The Police Service Commission is the civilian overseeing body established under the Nigerian Constitution for the Nigeria Police Force. It has power to appoint, promote, discipline and dismiss all officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) except the inspector-general of the police (IGP).

The Public Complaints Commission is the agency that oversees the general public sector.

References: 1.Police Service Commission Establishment Act, 2001 2.Section 2, Public Complaints Commission Act, 1975

81b: In practice, the independent law enforcement complaint reporting mechanism responds to citizen's complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: It rarely responds on time, mostly because of the bureaucracy of the Nigeria public sector. Also, many citizens are unaware of the function of this establishment.

81c: In law, there is an agency/entity to investigate and prosecute corruption committed by law enforcement officials.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: 1.Police Service Commission, Police Service Commission Establishment Act, 2001; 2. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004; 3. Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000

81d: In practice, when necessary, the agency/entity independently initiates investigations into allegations of corruption by law enforcement officials.

Score:

100

Comments: The agencies rarely initiate investigations on their own. The Police Service Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission (ICPC) must first receive reports before they undertake investigations. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does, but it targets only top level police officers. There is also very low collaboration between any of the agencies.

81e: In law, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: There are no laws exempting them.

81f: In practice, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings.

Score:

100

Comments: The Public Complaints Commission is the agency overseeing the general public sector. Law enforcement officers are not immune from criminal prosecution, but there is a general reluctance on the part of the public to prosecute these officers. This is why prosecution levels are very low.