President Bola Tinubu has given approval for the establishment of a new campus of the Nigeria Police Academy in Erinja, located in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The decision was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy. He said the president also sanctioned a take-off grant of N15 billion to support the project.
“The President’s approval was in fulfilment of the provisions of the Nigeria Police Academy (Establishment) Act, 2021, particularly with respect to the expansion of the Police Academy based in Wudil, Kano state, into multiple campuses across the country,” the statement reads.
According to Onanuga, the funding will come from the 2026 allocation of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). He explained that the money will be used to develop key infrastructure, academic facilities, student hostels, and essential training equipment.
He added that the choice of Erinja as the site for the new campus followed recommendations from a high-level consultative meeting. The meeting involved the minister of education, Tunji Alausa; senior officials from the ministry; the inspector-general of police, Tunji Disu; and the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, Abdullahi Ribadu.
Onanuga said discussions at the meeting focused on factors such as student intake capacity, available funding, academic standards, and the long-term manpower needs of the Nigeria Police Force, which is currently expanding its workforce.
“The meeting considered student intake capacity, funding realities, academic quality assurance, and the long-term needs of the Nigerian Police Force, which is currently recruiting more men,” he added.
He noted that the president believes the expansion will improve institutional management, enhance modern police training, and strengthen national security.
“President Tinubu believes the expansion will strengthen institutional governance, modern policing education and national security.”
Meanwhile, the federal government had earlier approved a plan to increase police recruitment across the country. On December 9, 2024, the minister of police affairs, Ibrahim Gaidam, announced that 30,000 officers would be recruited annually over the next five to six years.
Speaking during a visit to the Police Academy in Wudil, Kano State, Gaidam said the move is aimed at addressing security challenges and ensuring adequate personnel nationwide.
“The number of police being recruited, 10,000, is not enough to cover all the states, so the president has given approval for the recruitment of 30,000 policemen annually for the next five to six years,” he said.
“I believe if this is done, by the end of the year, we should be able to get enough policemen to take care of our security challenges in this country.”
