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By Lawrence Agbo
Senate Majority Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has called for a fixed budget allocation for the proposed state police, warning that inadequate funding could expose the security outfit to political interference, criminal infiltration and undue influence from private interests.
Speaking during the ARISE NEWS Townhall on State Police, Bamidele said financial independence would determine the success of state policing, stressing that the institution must not be left at the mercy of state governors.
“If the state police is not well funded, it may as well be a highway to nowhere,” he said.
The Senate leader explained that the constitutional amendment before the National Assembly seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, allowing states to establish police services without making it compulsory for every state to do so immediately.
“It’s not every state that will immediately… say, ‘We’re launching our state police.’ All we are trying to achieve is to move this duty from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List,” he said.
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Bamidele acknowledged concerns that state police could be abused by politicians but warned that wealthy individuals and criminal groups could also manipulate the institution if its funding was not protected by law.
“It’s not only state actors or politicians that can abuse this. Business class, some other organisations, even criminals can abuse it because it is a case of he who pays the piper dictating the tune,” he said.
To prevent such interference, Bamidele proposed legal provisions guaranteeing an independent source of funding for state police, including setting aside a fixed percentage of every state’s annual budget for policing.
“It might mean that part of the legal provision will be that a certain percentage of the state budget will have to be reserved for the police. The mode of accessing this funding should also be clearly spelt out,” he said.
He added that constitutional amendments alone would not be sufficient, stressing that additional legislation would be required to establish operational structures, accountability measures and oversight mechanisms for state police.
Bamidele said the ultimate goal of the reforms was to strengthen community policing while ensuring adequate safeguards against abuse and guaranteeing accountability.
