Budget Defence: IGP Egbetokun Speaks, Admits There’re ‘Two Versions,’ of Same Budget

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun has made some clarifications over the incident that happened during the budget defence of the Police at the National Assembly on Thursday.

In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja on behalf of the IGP by the spokesman of the Police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the IGP admitted that there were two versions of the budget document, but that the documents were the same. The IGP stated “that two versions of the budget documents were provided to the committee members: a comprehensive copy and an abridged version. While both contained same figures and facts, the abridged version used simplified language to facilitate understanding. At the start of the session, the committee members unanimously agreed with a motion that the IGP should present the abridged version since they all had access to both documents.”

Recall that the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (APC, Ebonyi North) had walked out of the joint committee hearing over what he described as discrepancy the documents submitted by the police boss.

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“This is a critical session, and we cannot proceed with half-baked information. The IGP must ensure transparency in these matters,” Senator Nwebonyi stated before he left the room.

However, reacting to the position of the Deputy Chief Whip, IGP Egbetokun stated that both versions of the budget, the detailed and the summarised versions had earlier been shared to the joint committee members before the arrival of the Deputy Chief Whip.

Earlier, Hon. Mark Esset  (PDP, Akwa Ibom),

Had also raised the issue that there was a “discrepancy” in the document the IGP was reading from and the ones circulated to members.

In his reaction the IGP  rather blamed the lawmakers for coming late, “distinguished Senator Onyekachi Nwoebonyi (Ebonyi North), who arrived late, began referencing the comprehensive version while the IGP presented the abridged version. Despite explanations from other committee members about the earlier agreement and the consistency between both versions, the senator refused to listen and abruptly left the session. The IGP described the incident as unnecessary drama that could have been avoided had the senator been receptive to the clarifications provided. The IGP reiterates that the Nigeria Police Force did not submit two different 2025 budgetary proposal documents to the joint committees at the National Assembly, contrary to the reports circulating in the news and media outlets,” Mr. Egbetokun stated.