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By Omoniyi Salaudeen
The ghost of agitation for the creation of state police to tackle the rising challenge of insecurity in the country has come alive again and kicking. Time and again, the issue has been brought to the front burner in the national discourse. But because successive administrations have always regarded it as a no-go-area, it has always died, but to resurrect again and again. Now, it’s back to life for the same old reason. More than ever before, there is apparent evidence to show that the present centralized policing system is inadequate to frontally address the worrisome security situation.
There is, therefore, an imperative of the need for the relevant authorities to take a second look at the issue if the present multifaceted challenge of criminality, banditry, terrorism, kidnapping, and ransom-taking is to be effectively dealt with. Part of the argument that the Federal Government has always used against the agitation is the possibility of abuse of state police by the governors to suppress the opposition, especially during the elections. That argument has been overflogged; it can no longer stand the test of logical reasoning. It is a self-defeatist option that has cost the country so much in terms of human losses.
In the face of the existential threat that insecurity issues like kidnapping and ransom-taking have become in recent times, the continued undue fixation and rigidity of the government can only lead to a worsening situation with all the negative consequences on the socio-economy, as well as the overall lives of the people. On several occasions, some concerned members of the National Assembly have brought up the issue during the plenary session. But beyond the sentimental lamentations and other entertaining drama that often go along with the debate, nothing significant has been done in terms of lawmaking to change the narrative.
Over the years, the impression the lawmakers have always created with their attitude towards routine constitutional amendments is the seeming absolute powerlessness of the National Assembly to initiate a law that will bring a change of the existing security architecture which has put the policing of a country as vast as Nigeria under one centralized command structure.
Since 1999, no less than five amendments have been made by the National Assembly following which the lawmakers would embark on a series of public hearings to amend the 1999 Constitution. While the first, second, and third amendments were debated and signed into law during the tenure of the Sixth National Assembly (2007-2011), the attempted process by the Seventh National Assembly between 2011 and 2015 ultimately failed because the proposed amendments were vetoed by former President Goodluck Jonathan. After him, the last amendment took place during the administration of his immediate successor, Muhammadu Buhari. In all, the topmost issues that engaged the debate of the stakeholders centred largely on restructuring, electoral reform, local government autonomy, state police, and national security.
Yet, none of these aspirations have seen the light of the day due to the perceived rubber-stamp attitude of the previous lawmakers.
Another round of amendment process is about to start again. According to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the 10th Assembly has fixed December 2025 as the deadline for completion of its work.
Speaking at the pre-inaugural meeting of the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Abuja, Kalu disclosed that 40 bills have already been received for the commencement of the 1999 Constitution review. He said that the constitution review committee would be officially inaugurated on February 26, 2024. He promised that the alteration process would give priority to some important bills that failed to receive the needed attention in the last constitution review.
Whether the disposition of the present National Assembly will be any different from the previous experience is a different ballgame. Watching from the sideline, the self-serving attitude of some of the lawmakers especially in the way they have pursued their interests reveals so much about the deficit of trust people have in their approach.
Due to the antecedents of the previous National Assembly, there is a general lack of confidence in the sincerity of the present lawmakers to push the boundaries of the law in the genuine interest of Nigerians.
Some state governors also have their share of the blame. Part of the reasons some amendments have failed to sail through the previous amendments is the grip state governors have on state assemblies to the extent that amendments that would have made them truly independent to do their job have been aborted.
For this round of amendment, all eyes will be on the National Assembly and their counterparts in the state assemblies about the creation of state police to deal with the current security challenges without any form of tardiness or hesitation. The security of lives and property of the citizenry is the primary responsibility of any government of which the National Assembly is a part.
According to Section 11 (2) of the 1999 constitution, “The National Assembly shall have the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof concerning any matter included in the Exclusive, Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.”
In the present dire situation the country has found itself in, security challenges are of great concern to all and sundry.
In this regard, the National Assembly has a constitutional duty to enact laws that can pull back the nation from the precipice. Among other things, a review of the present policing system is at the heart of the solution many people are looking forward to seeing as a way of dealing with the increasing menace of crime and criminality in the country.
Already, there is a consensus that governors need to be given more power to secure their states.
This demand resonates among some past governors who have once faced the heat of insecurity in their respective states. For instance, former governors of Anambra State, Akwa Ibom State, and Sokoto State, Peter Obi, Victor Attah, and Aminu Tambuwal, respectively, during the Annual Lecture and International Leadership Symposium of the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) organised to mark Utomi’s 68th birthday with the theme: “Democracy, Governance, and National Performance: The Mutual Relationship,” unequivocally called for more powers for the state chief executives to enable them tackle the security challenges in their territories.
Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), while recalling his experience under the leadership of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his successor, Umaru Yar’Adua, said governors enjoyed the powers to secure their state under the two presidents. His words: “Under Obasanjo, the governors were in charge of security. I requested that every DPO (Divisional Police Officer) be removed and I had it.
“I took decisions on security with the authority of the president during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and every month, there was a conversation between the president and the governors.
“The governor has to be in charge of the state and be responsible. So, we need a president who is determined to give the governor authority to do something.”
Obi, therefore, called on President Bola Tinubu to strengthen the war against insurgency and corruption to move the country forward.
Tambuwal, however, noted that governors were no longer consulted lately when decisions concerning their states were being made by the president.
“On matters of security, governors are supposed to be hands-on because they are the ones dealing with issues of ensuring that people are secure.
“There is a need for us to restructure and devolve more powers to the governors so that they can work on issues of security.
“We need to tinker and work the system and bring it closer home. I believe there is a lot more to do, be done in terms of working the system to conform to our reality,” Tambuwal posited.
Former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Attah, while also supporting advocates of the creation of state police, said: “We need to develop the courage and ability to change our constitution and make it one written by Nigerians and for Nigerians, to make progress.”
Senator Gbenga Kaka, speaking with Sunday Sun in a telephone interview, maintained that the creation of state police was long overdue in the face of the rising security challenges.
He said: “The creation of a state police is overdue. I have been an advocate of state police along with so many other eminent Nigerians. If we are desirous of maintaining peace, then the issue has to be looked into. A security architecture that is over-centralised in Abuja can never work, especially considering the various socio-cultural situations in our different environments.
“It is not possible for a Yoruba man posted to Borno or Kebbi to perform because there is a language barrier. He won’t be able to decipher what the surroundings look like. So, there is no way he can be as effective and efficient as expected.
“If we are serious about tackling the security problems, we should once and for all enact a law that will make it possible for state and even local governments to have their security outfits. They can still be reporting to the AIG at the zonal or state level.
“There are those who are saying that the timing is not ripe. I wonder when the time will be ripe. Some have also said that the state governors would abuse state police to pursue their political ambitions. We cannot say because some people will abuse the process and remain in the doldrums forever. They even forgot that even under the existing arrangement, the late former Inspector General of Police, Sunday Adewusi, was used against the opposition in the Second Republic election.”
To curtail the possibility of abuse, he suggested that the governors should be de-robed of their immunity. “Let’s remove immunity for the governors so that if anyone commits a criminal offence in the name of state police, he can face the music. We don’t need to wait till the end of his tenure. That is the only way to sanitise the system.“The time is over-ripe for the creation of state police. Those who are using the propaganda that time is not ripe are the ones benefitting from the present security architecture that is not working. A situation where you call a governor the Chief Security Officer of a state and yet cannot give direct orders to the police in a state is unhealthy. If we are serious, this is the time to get it done. You can call it constabulary or whatever, but the truth is that they will have the eyes and the ears to understand the socio-political terrain of their environment better than the ordinary police from different regions. If you are the one aiding and abetting armed robbers, easily, they will get you and identify you,” he added.
Senator Anthony Adeniyi, while also sharing the same view in a chat with Sunday Sun, stressed the imperative of state police to restore peace and order in the country.
He weighed in on the renewed clamour, declaring that: “The need for the creation of state police has now dawned on us with the present security situation. Some of us believe that security should be localized. For instance, you heard what happened recently in Ekiti State when the two traditional rulers were killed by gunmen. No one could have imagined that somebody as old as 81 years would be the kidnappers’ kingpin. The time is now for us to have a state police which will be domiciled within the local people with the governor acting as the Chief Security Officers since they are the ones entitled to security votes. That way, they will have control over the security situation in their state.”
He noted that some governors had used the state assemblies in the past to oppose some amendments made by the National Assembly. However, he said the current situation would not permit such interference in the proposed constitution review.
“As you know, the governors control the state assemblies, but we have got to a situation whereby the houses of assembly which comprised eminent Nigerians who have no less integrity as the governor will be able to look at it (state police) dispassionately without kowtowing the position of their governors.
“What we have seen in recent times has shown that we need to localize security despite its susceptibility to abuse by the governors. We have had governors setting up Amotekun security outfits in the Southwest. We should start it and allow the system to grow gradually. The only thing we need to look at is the areas they can abuse and divest them of such powers,” Senator Adeniyi posited.
