MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

ABOUT THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR

The Ministry of Interior was created in 2015 following a merger between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Police Affairs. It is a Federal Government Organ which evolved from the Ministry of Internal Affairs which was created in 1957. It came as a result of the merger of various Departments and Units of Government over the years. Some of its components like Prisons were pulled out from the defunct Native Authorities of the Federation; other arms of it, like the Immigration Service, came from the old Nigeria Police Force while other units were previously in the office of the Secretary of State in the Colonial days.

The then Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs was created among other things supervise the Police, Magistrate Courts, Fire Service, employment and selection of administrators of states, issue license for Pool Betting, etc. However, over the years there had been some adjustments in its roles. Thus, the Federal Government Gazette no. 63 Vol. 70 of 6^th December 1983 assigned the following statutory roles to the Ministry:  matters on control and strengthening of the entry and exit points across the national borders and preventing of undesirable elements from entering into Nigeria. Other Functions of the Ministry included: registration of voluntary organizations and Marriage Registration, Civil Defense and Private Security guards which are in broad terms very crucial to the security in Nigeria.

All the Departments and arms of the public service, that were merged to form the Ministry, are security related. As a result of improved economic and social well-being of the country in the last couple of decades, societal demands for the services of the Ministry on rational lines by the Government, so as to facilitate convenient administration.