Coming against the background of three previous Presidential Committees on Police Reform established by your predecessors whose recommendations were neither made public nor seriously or scrupulously implemented, the response of civil society in Nigeria to Mr. Osayande’s Committee was expectedly mixed. However, being of the view that the task of reforming the Nigeria Police Force is too important to be left to government alone, key non-governmental organisations working on police reform issues in Nigeria decided to engage the process in a creative and proactive way through….
In order to carry out this assignment effectively, the Panel consulted widely with stakeholders in civil society, government, political parties, security agencies, women’s organisations, the media and the general public. We interacted with senior and junior police officials including the Inspector General of Police, Mr. M.D. Abubakar, and benefited from their wealth of experience in police and policing matters. The Panel requested and received memoranda from the general public. We also held public hearings in seven cities in each of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory, during which oral and written presentations were made by members of the public and other interested stakeholders.
We have the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Panel has completed its work. Consequently, we hereby submit the Report of the Panel for the consideration of the Government. We hope that the recommendations of this Panel, which draws heavily from major voices in civil society, will complement those of Mr. Osayande’s Committee in guiding your Government in its efforts to reposition and transform the Nigeria Police into an effective and accountable public service institution…
