Breaking: President Buhari Gives Final Say On State Police
- President Muhammadu Buhari believes that the creation of state police across Nigeria will worsen insecurity
- The president is of the view that the tendency of state governors to abuse their powers will come to play if the proposal becomes a reality
- Buhari said one of the ways to know this will happen is the tension between some local and state governments
President Muhammadu Buhari has affirmed that the creation of state police across Nigeria is not an option under his administration.
Governors' abuse of power
In an exclusive interview with Channels TV, the president expressed fears that if state police become a reality in the country, some governors will abuse their powers and use them for their personal advantage.
Source: Facebook
To buttress his argument, President Buhari noted that currently many local and state governments are having issues with the distribution of resources, The Nation added.
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He said:
“State police is not an option. Find out the relationship between local government and the Governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally?
"Are they getting it? Let the people in local government tell you the truth, the fight between local governments and the governor.”
Role of traditional rulers in security
On the security situation in the country, Buhari spoke on the role of traditional rulers in bringing peace to their domains and as such urged state governments not to undermine them.
His words:
“The role of traditional rulers must not be undermined, because in their areas they know who is who, even by families, not to even talk of individuals.
“So, we have to revert to that system for us to have effective security in the localities.
“For example, there were two Governors that came to see me about problems – Oyo state and one other state – because the herders were in their forests but the animals were going into the neighbouring farms, and eating the crops; I said, as far as I know, the farmers and herders have been co-existing in Nigeria for generations.
"Let them go and ask the local leadership what has gone wrong, why the break in communication between the local leadership and the herders.”
Finally, House of Reps supports bill to create state police
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives had commenced the process of giving legal backing to the establishment of state police in Nigeria.
The legislators on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow the creation of state police and legalise regional security outfits.
The proposed legislation intends to decentralize the current police system by moving police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.
Source: Legit.ng
