We’re Yet To Take Stand On State Police — Govs
The Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, on Friday said that it had not taken a common position on the establishment of State Police in the country.
Chairman of the NGF, and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi stated this while briefing State House correspondents after the expanded security meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and Security heads at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Fayemi, who was flanked by six other governors from the six geo-political zones said that while some governors were advocating for State police because of the peculiar security challenges facing their states others didn’t deem it necessary because of the financial implications.
President Buhari meets with 36 State Governors and Service Chiefs He said that the NGF will take a holistic view of the issue and come out with a position on it.
He also stated that the $1 billion approved from the Excess Crude Account to fight insecurity had been disbursed among the security agencies, though he said it was not enough to tackle the security challenges.
The NGF boss who said the meeting was at the instance of the governors said it dwelt primarily on insecurity: kidnapping, armed robbery, insurgency, militancy among others.
Fayemi said there will be a special meeting of National Economic Council, NEC, which is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to take position on the myriads of security problems in order to give confidence to the citizenry.
Explaining the essence of the meeting, he said, “the meeting was at our instance as governors of the 36 states collectively. It has to do with the security situation in the country, our concerns about what is going on all across the nation.
“We had a very fruitful meeting with Mr. President. Of course, he was not oblivious of the challenges, he gets security reports on a daily basis, he understands what the issues are.
“But we felt as chief security officers in our respective states, it is also important for us to at least keep Mr. President abreast of the enormity of the challenges we are facing and also highlight the concerns of our citizens across the board about rural banditry, farmers/herders clashes, kidnapping, militancy in the Delta, insurgency and cultism.
“So we discussed extensively all of these issues and looked at the various ways that we felt as governors we could assist Mr. President as the Commander-in-Chief to curb these issues. Of course, we were able to, in the first instance, look at the nexus between our economic challenges and the security challenges as well and the importance of tackling the causes of crime not just crime on its own.
Governors under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party have demanded immediate establishment of state police as an effective response to the worsening state of security in the country.
The governors in a communique read by the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, expressed deep worry over the spate of killings across the country and called for effective measures to curtail the troubling development.
A statement by the Special Adviser Media Relations to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, Friday stated that Governor Dickson made the call on behalf of the Forum while reading the communique of a late-night meeting at the Bayelsa Governors Lodge, Maitama, Abuja on Thursday.
He said that the governors would raise the issue of security among others with the President in a meeting scheduled for Friday.
“We express deep concern over the politicization of the security apparatus in every state by the Federal Government and its agencies and by operatives of the other party in the various states they are not in control and as such support the growing calls for the establishment of State Police as a response to the security situation in the country. “And we believe that this is one of the reasons that we have these widespread insecurity and will take some of these issues up when we interact with the President.”
