Follow Us on Google
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has urged the Federal Government to stop “deceiving Nigerians” on the proposed establishment of state police, claiming that the lengthy debate has become a waste of national time.
Makinde made the remarks on Friday during a joint mega rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the APM in Ibadan, where he also revisited previous efforts by South-West governors to construct a decentralised police force.
“We wanted state police. It was because we couldn’t get the state police that we established Amotekun as a stop-gap,” the governor said.
“They should stop wasting Nigerians’ time.”
He recalled that South-West states had initially pushed for the creation of state police but later settled for the regional security outfit, Amotekun, in 2020 after the proposal failed to scale through at the federal level.
Other News
Makinde argued that states do not need to wait for federal approval or police hierarchy before acting, citing how South-West governors coordinated their Houses of Assembly to legalise Amotekun across participating states.
He, however, noted that Lagos State did not join the initiative, claiming the decision was influenced by opposition from President Bola Tinubu, who was a major political figure in the state at the time.
“The only state that didn’t create Amotekun is Lagos State, and we know it is because their boss didn’t want Amotekun,” Makinde said.
The governor stated that if there was political will, state policing could be operational in a short amount of time, while insecurity remained a big worry that necessitated immediate decentralised involvement.
