Stakeholders Differ On Proposed 10% Allocation of Security Trust Fund For Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC)

Stakeholders and the Lagos State House of Assembly on Friday differed on the proposed Security Trust Funds (STF) for the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC).

The House had proposed a 10 per cent of the STF for the LNSC but stakeholders expressed reservations over the Assembly’s proposed fund as part of the funds to run the state’s security outfit.

The stakeholders expressed their views at a one-day Public Hearing on a Bill for a Law to Amend the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, CH.55 Law of Lagos State.

The public hearing was organised by the Assembly Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, headed by Hon. Adefunmilayo Tejuosho (Mushin Constituency I).

Section 9 of the Principal Law is to be amended by creating a new subsection (2) (g) as follows “guarantee allocation of 10 per cent of its funds to the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency of the state.”

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Dr. AbdulRasak Balogun said that the amendment to the section 9, which proposed allocation of 10 per cent of the funds to LNSC Agency, was not needed.

Balogun said: “This should be predicated on exigencies and needs. We should leave it open.”

He said that the agency might even need more than 10 per cent, saying that 80 per cent of the fund was donor-driven.

According to him, the security challenge of the state and the inability of the police to combat the security situation due to the underfunding of the force led to the creation of the fund in 2007.

Balogun said that the fund was meant to create standard security for the state, noting that some parts of the proposed amendments would create bureaucracy and impede swift actions.

He said that spontaneous actions to security needs had helped build donor confidence, “10 per cent is not really necessary for LNSC.”

Also, Mr Arthur Worrey, the immediate past boss of the LSSTF, said that the board should be left to exercise its power to disburse funds according to needs.

Worrey said that the law stipulated that the “board shall have power to disburse money according to its discretion,” adding that LNSC should come to the board whenever it had any need for such.

According to him, the lawmakers should be cautious about confirmation of some issues capable of impeding the discharge of the fund.

Contributing, the Chairman of the LNSC Board, Mr. Israel Ajao said: “I am proud of this House. The Neighbourhood Safety Agency law is a trail blazing and it is meant to ensure community policing.”

Ajayi, however, said that LSSTF had been supporting and assisting the agency.

Tejuoso had earlier said that it was important to know how security funds were being spent to ensure safety, noting that security of lives and property remained a passion of the Assembly.

In his keynote address, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa said that the amendment bordered on how to improve the security situation in the state.

Obasa, represented by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, said that “no investor will come to a state that is not secured.”

According to him, the pressure in the state has increased the potential for crimes, saying that if not for the ingenuity and visionary leaders in the state, security would have deteriorated.

He said that the primary responsibility of government was the security of lives and property as well as the welfare of the citizens, adding that the review was to make the law meet present realities.

Overviewing the bill, Agunbiade said that the proposed amendments affected 12 sections of the bill.

He added that four of them had to do with the functions of the agency in line with the diversities and dynamism of the state security.

“LNSC is to make Lagos State safer. We should be able to cater for the corps. We have seen the challenge of conventional police, we are proposing 10 per cent of the LSSTF to cater for LNSC,’’ he said.

He assured the stakeholders that their contributions would be factored into the final amendment