Tensions arose during a 2025 National Assembly budget defense session when IGP Kayode Egbetokun presented the Nigeria Police's budget. Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi demanded documents, leading to a heated confrontation and his exit. Egbetokun emphasized police underfunding and increased recruitment quotas under President Tinubu's administration.
Tension erupted during a 2025 budget defense session in the National Assembly on Thursday when the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, began outlining the Nigeria Police’s spending on the construction of five zonal police headquarters across the country. The trouble began when House member Mark Esset from Akwa Ibom raised concerns about the absence of detailed documents in the materials provided to him.
The situation escalated when Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, a Principal Officer and APC member, demanded a copy of the presentation from the IGP. Nwebonyi insisted that, as a senator, he was entitled to the same information being presented to the committee. He expressed frustration that such details were not included in the budget handouts, stating, “We are here to serve Nigerians and should be seen as a serious institution.”
Despite attempts to clarify, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, Honorable Abubakar Makki Yalleman, overruled Nwebonyi’s Point of Order, allowing the IGP to continue. This sparked further tension, and Nwebonyi stormed out of the session in anger, exchanging words with House members as he left.
After the commotion settled, Egbetokun resumed his presentation, emphasizing the severe underfunding of the police and calling for the removal of the police from the “envelope” budgetary system. He also revealed that the annual recruitment quota for the police had been increased from 10,000 to 30,000 under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
