Former Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, has said he believes that the state police will be established if governors from the northern finally embrace it.
Sagay pointed out that the establishment of state police had met resistance from governors from the North before now.
Speaking on Arise News, the former presidential aide was asked if he thought that the state police can be put in place, and won’t became one of those pronouncements that never materialized.
As DAILY POST reported, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday called on the National Assembly to start fashioning out modalities to amend the constitution in order to incorporate state police.
The President said this is to help fight insurgency and provide more quality security for the people.
DAILY POST reports that the 36 governors in the country have taken their stand on the lingering discussion on state police.
Sagay mentioned the skepticism of the northern governors but was reminded that the 36 state governors, including the FCT, supported the idea this time around.
“That’s still my fear. I mean my own idea, when the northern governors or northern politicians were against the idea of state police, my view was that no problem if you do not want state police in your states in the North, we in the South want it,” he said.
“Don’t stop us from having it. Because the attitude was, we don’t want it and you can’t have it. That was a problem then. So if there’s an amendment which now allows it, because the present constitution is very clear, only the Nigerian Police Force should exist in Nigeria.
“If this can be amended to allow states to establish their own police forces, then I think we are going to have a situation in which the fight against all these bandits and murderers and so on will be firmer, will be more successful, and the safety of Nigerians will be better guaranteed.
“If the governors, as you said, virtually all the 36 state governors are now interested and are now prepared to invest into that process, then there should be no difficulty when it comes to approval by state houses of assembly.
“In any case, it just a majority of them that we need, not all of them. So once the governors agree, then there is no problem, because I know the National Assembly so far has virtually carried out every wish of the governor of the President, so I think they are quite secure in that regard. If the governors want it, then I don’t think there’s any obstacle anymore.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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