Follow Us on Google
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said the proposed state police system can only function effectively if its funding is guaranteed as a constitutional first-line charge, warning that failure to secure its financial independence could leave it vulnerable to manipulation by governors, business interests, criminal networks and powerful cabals.
Bamidele, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, made the remarks in a statement issued yesterday by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs while responding to concerns raised by stakeholders over the ongoing constitutional amendment seeking to establish state police.
According to him, the National Assembly has taken note of the fears expressed by Nigerians and is working on safeguards to prevent the abuse of state police services.
He acknowledged that many of the concerns were justified, noting that they were largely informed by the experience of the First Republic, when the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions empowered regional governments to establish police forces.
To prevent a recurrence, Bamidele said the National Assembly was developing a framework that would guarantee the institutional independence, operational discipline, and fiscal autonomy of state police services.
He disclosed that lawmakers were proposing that funding for state police be made a constitutional first-line charge, similar to the financial arrangement for the judiciary.
Explaining the proposal, Bamidele said: “The Commissioner of Police and the State Police Service Commission must have a guaranteed source of funding provided for in the 1999 Constitution, so that the police chief will not be subject to the whims and caprices of a state governor.”
He added that the constitutional amendment would ensure that governors could not withhold funding from state police services simply because they disagreed with their operations.
Other News
“If a state police service is not responding well to the directives of a governor, he may choose not to fund it. We must prevent such a situation,” he said.
According to him, the National Assembly is considering making a specified percentage of every state’s annual budget constitutionally dedicated to the operations of state police services, with clear provisions on how such funds would be accessed.
Bamidele further assured Nigerians that the proposed state police system would be accountable to the people and that all legitimate concerns raised during consultations would be addressed before the constitutional amendment is concluded.
He stressed that adequate funding remained central to the success of the initiative, warning that creating state police without financial autonomy would undermine its effectiveness.
The Senate leader explained that the constitutional review seeks to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby allowing both the Federal Government and state governments to establish and operate police services.
He also cautioned that political interference was not the only threat to state police.
“The business class can also abuse it. Some organisations, even criminals or cabals, can abuse the state police service because it is a question of ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune.’
“If a state police service is not adequately funded by any means, we will have a situation where it may as well be a highway to nowhere. That is one thing all of us must prevent,” Bamidele said.
