The Enugu State government has announced its plan to spend N20 billion for security expenditures in 2024.
The disclosure was contained in a statement regarding the establishment of the Enugu State Trust Fund, delivered by the spokesperson to Governor Peter Mbah.
However, the statement highlighted Governor Mbah’s reliance on private sector assistance to meet the anticipated N20 billion security expenditure for Enugu State in 2024.
- “The Security Trust Fund is in line with what we have expressed in our manifesto when we were seeking the mandate of our people to serve them. We promised them that Enugu would be one of the top three states in terms of GDP and of course, we said it is going to happen from private sector investment, and attracting private sector investment requires that you have the enabling environment.
- “This was why we immediately made certain consequential pronouncements and took emphatic steps in addressing our insecurity challenges. We set up the Distress Response Squad. We are deploying CCTV across our city, and making sure that we have a central Command and Control Centre where we can monitor all that is going on and prevent crimes.
- “We work to prevent crimes but have also put in place adequate measures and facilities to be able to identify, track, capture and defeat the criminals involved if there is any breach of security of any kind.
- “So, the inauguration of this Security Trust Fund today is going to redouble our efforts in the fight against insecurity in the state,” Gov. Mbah said.
More insights
- The Enugu State Security Trust Fund Law, initially enacted in 2020, underwent crucial amendments in 2023, including the execution of a Deed of Trust, to enable the appointment and inauguration of a Board of Trustees (BOT) and fully activate the Trust Fund.
- Governor Mbah appointed an 11-member BOT chaired by Mr. Ike Chioke, with Mr. Chinedu Anih serving as the Executive Secretary.
- According to the amended Enugu State Security Trust Fund Law of 2023, the Fund is mandated to secure funds for acquiring and deploying security equipment, serve as an intervention agency for all security entities in the state, and provide financial support for security equipment procurement, among other responsibilities.
