By Samuel Adeola
President Bola Tinubu has approved the conferment of 959 national honours and major reforms to strengthen the funding of the Nigeria Police Force.
The approvals followed meetings of the National Council of State and the Police Council held on Thursday at the State House, Abuja.
Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong, said the President endorsed the 2024/2025 National Honours Award Committee report, chaired by Justice Sidi Bage, which selected 824 honourees for national honours and 135 for special recognition.
Among the honourees are Bill Gates for contributions to public health, Uncle Sam Pemu for journalism, and the Super Falcons and D’Tigress for sports excellence.
Tinubu also chaired the Police Council, which approved the repeal and re-enactment of the 2019 Police Trust Fund (PTF) Act to make it a permanent agency.
Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam, said the PTF’s allocation from the Federation Account would increase from 0.5% to 1%, with an executive bill to be forwarded to the National Assembly.
