Sowore Alleges Massive Payroll Fraud, Says Nigeria Has Only 210,000 Real Police Officers
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that there is massive payroll fraud in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), claiming that the country has only about 210,000 active officers.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Sowore asserted that official government claims that salaries are being paid to about 350,000 police personnel exist only on paper.
“Through a network of racketeers and proxy beneficiaries across the country, salaries are drawn in the names of non-existent or unavailable officers, with funds routinely remitted back up the chain to senior police officials.
“This systemic payroll fraud not only robs the public treasury but also explains chronic understaffing on the streets, poor morale among rank-and-file officers, and the nationwide collapse of effective public policing,” he stated.
According to him, out of the estimated 210,000 officers, about 11,500, roughly 5.4%, are assigned to guard fewer than 10,000 Very Important Persons (VIPs).
“This means that nearly 200 million Nigerians are left to be policed by about 200,000 officers, while a tiny elite class enjoys a disproportionate share of state protection,” Sowore explained.
The human rights activist noted that the more profound and uncomfortable truth is that well over 100,000 police officers are effectively withdrawn from public policing, emphasising that they are deployed on guard duty, protecting banks, private homes, shrines, churches, corporate facilities, private schools, farms, land-grabbing operations, and even militants, rather than securing communities.
He lamented that this practice amounts to the privatisation of public security, adding that it explains why insecurity thrives while the powerful remain insulated.
