Governors of the 36 states of the federation have reaffirmed their endorsement of state policing as effective way curtailing the spate of insecurity in the country.
The governors’ position was made known by the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, while speaking with State House correspondents on Thursday evening.
Sani addressed the correspondents shortly after the 147th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) convened at the State House.
The governor said, “Today, one of the discussions we had at the NEC meeting was the update on the creation of state police. As you are aware, there was a submission by states toward the establishment of state police.
“The 36 states have submitted, minus FCT. FCT is not a state. They explained why they had not submitted it. But 36 states have all submitted their own position on state police.
“From what is available, virtually most of the states are in agreement with the establishment of state police in Nigeria. I want to say here clearly that most of us are in agreement with the establishment of State Police.”
Governor Sani further explained that the consensus was informed by the growing security challenges confronting the states.
According to him, the meeting discussed ungoverned spaces in the country and the shortage of security personnel, including the police, army, and other relevant agencies, which are too stretched to adequately cover all parts of the country.
“That is why most of us agreed that the establishment of state police in Nigeria is the way forward toward addressing the problem of insecurity in our own country,” the governor added.
The NEC however, deferred further discussions on the matter until January, when a detailed report from the Council secretariat will be presented for final deliberation.
Also speaking on the matter, the Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri, said, “Today, the Council decided to step down the discussion until the next council meeting because we need to come up with a report from the secretariat. After the report, there will be deliberation at the next NEC meeting, which will likely take place in January.
“Not only that. There was also a resolution in the last NEC meeting, which today the secretariat agreed on, stating that there will be further stakeholder engagement after the panel and deliberation by the members of the NEC.”
The Council had, at its last meeting in November, given Adamawa, Kebbi, and Kwara States and the FCT one week to submit their positions on the proposed creation of state police.
“The Council mandated these remaining states and FCT to make their submissions within the next one week,” Diri said.
Diri said the three states and the nation’s capital are the only entities yet to submit reports out of the 36 states.
The federal government and the 36 states had, earlier this year, initiated discussions on the imperative of creating state controlled police services.
This followed an emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the state governors over the same matter.
The discussions were necessitated by the growing insecurity across the country with the attendant food insecurity and economic hardship.
END
Governors Reaffirm Endorsement Of State Police is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
