A viral video capturing a heated exchange between members of the National Assembly (NASS) and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has sparked widespread reactions on social media.

The confrontation occurred on Thursday, January 16, 2025, during the presentation of the Nigeria Police Force’s budget performance for the previous year by the IGP.

The argument began when the IGP detailed funds allocated for constructing five zonal police headquarters across the country. Mark Esset, a House of Representatives member from Akwa Ibom, interrupted to question why the information presented by the IGP was not included in the document provided to lawmakers.

The situation escalated when Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Principal Officer, aggressively insisted that lawmakers should be given accurate copies of the IGP’s presentation.

“We are here to serve Nigerians, and Nigerians should see us as a very serious institution,” Nwebonyi stated.
“We are not against the IGP’s presentation. But I, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, should have a copy of what the IGP is reading.”

Attempts by the IGP to explain the discrepancies were repeatedly shut down by members of the joint committee.

Nwebonyi’s efforts to raise a Point of Order were overruled by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs, Honourable Abubakar Makki Yalleman, who directed the IGP to continue his presentation.

Frustrated, Nwebonyi angrily gathered his belongings and walked out of the budget defense session. He exchanged heated words with House of Representatives members who jeered at him as he exited.

Meanwhile, during his defense of the 2025 budget for the police before the Joint Committees on Police Affairs and Police Institutions at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, Egbetokun emphasized the need to remove the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) from the envelope budgetary system to allow for more accurate funding projections.

He appealed to the National Assembly to support the police in delivering on their mandate, stating, “Otherwise, we depend solely on budgetary allocations. We are glad that this committee has identified the gross underfunding of the police.”