President Bola Tinubu has approved national honours for 959 people and introduced reforms to improve the funding of the Nigeria Police Force.
The decision was made during meetings of the National Council of State and the Police Council held at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Dr. Emanso Umobong, Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Affairs Office, the President accepted the report of the National Honours Award Committee for 2024 and 2025.
The committee, led by Justice Sidi Bage, reviewed over 5,000 applications and recommended 824 recipients for the regular national honours, plus 135 for special awards — a total of 959 honourees.
Umobong said the awards recognise Nigerians and friends of the country who have made outstanding contributions to national development.
Among those already honoured by the President are Bill Gates for his work in public health, veteran journalist Uncle Sam Pemu, and Nigeria’s women’s football teams, the Super Falcons and D’Tigress, for their sporting achievements. Others include the late Ogoni Nine and Ogoni Four, honoured posthumously for their environmental activism, and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, outgoing INEC Chairman, for his service to democracy.
The full list of honourees will be published soon.
After the Council of State meeting, President Tinubu also presided over the Police Council session, where members approved major reforms to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF).
Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam, said the Council agreed to repeal and re-enact the Police Trust Fund Establishment Act of 2019. The change removes the six-year time limit and makes the fund a permanent agency to support long-term police development.
The Council also approved an increase in the Police Trust Fund’s share of the Federation Account from 0.5% to 1%. The Attorney-General was directed to include all these approvals in an Executive Bill to be presented to the National Assembly.
The NPTF was created in 2019 to close funding gaps in training, welfare, technology, and logistics for the police.nh you é
However, its short lifespan and limited funding have slowed reforms.
“All these proposals were approved without any changes,” Geidam confirmed.