The Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde, has faulted 16 governors’ submission of memoranda on the clamour for state police to the National Economic Council (NEC).
Governor Makinde’s reaction came barely a day after the announcement of the submission of memoranda by the governors.
The governor who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday described the governors’ actions as a waste of time.
He said “I did not submit any memorandum on state police but my position is very clear about state police. I see it, quite frankly, as a waste of our time,”
“I did not submit not because of arrogance but because I don’t think the approach will quickly get us to where we want to go. You are asking the states to submit memoranda on how state police will work.”
Makinde explained that the issue of the state police can best be handled by the National Assembly and not the National Economic Council or the National Security Adviser.
He argued that the issue must pass through the parliament since it is a constitutional matter before being replicated at the state houses of assembly.
“The National Assembly, they know what to do. They have people that can quickly do this work. It is not the National Security Adviser or the National Economic Council that will deal with the issue of state police.
“It is a constitutional thing and should go to the National Assembly and then at the state level, we get our state houses of assembly to pass this law,” the governor said.
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Recall that NEC, on Thursday confirmed receiving memoranda from 16 governors who expressed their support for establishing state police to address the myriads of security challenges facing the nation.
Although the names of the governors were not given, 20 other governors were yet to forward their reports to enable the NEC to act on them.
The clamour for state police has been an age-long issue in Nigeria. But the worsening state of security in the country has heightened such calls.
[Channels TV]
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