State Police ‘Way To Go’ — Ekweremadu Faults Buhari’s Stance

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, representing Enugu-West in the Senate, has faulted the stance taken by President Muhammadu Buhari on the creation of state police in the country.

Ekweremadu described as weak, President Buhari’s argument that governors could abuse their powers if states were allowed to establish and maintain their own police.

During a recent TV interview, the president had cited alleged hostile relationship between governors and the local governments as indication that governors could abuse their powers if given control of the police.

“State police is not an option. Find out the relationship between local governments and the governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally? Are they getting it? Let the people in local governments tell you the truth, the fight between local governments and the governors,” Buhari told Channels TV in an exclusive interview.

But Ekweremadu, while featuring on a radio programme on Dream FM, Enugu, on Saturday, said the president’s concern had already been addressed in a bill seeking the creation of state police.

“State police is still the way to go to effectively secure Nigeria. I’m mindful of Mr. President’s concerns, which is not different from the concerns of many Nigerians, which is that it could be subject to abuse by state chief executives. Consequently, the constitution amendment Bill for the Creation of State Police, which is currently before the National Assembly, has taken care of that in the appointment, control, equipment, and supervision of state police services.

“I also sponsored the same Bill in the 8th National Assembly as the Deputy President of the Senate at the time. It is the sort of arrangement we have in the National Judicial Council. We have state judiciary, but the presence of the NJC ensures that they are not abused,” said the former Deputy Senate President.

The bill seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow the establishment of state police and move the police from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.

A similar bill had passed the second reading at the House of Representatives in July 2021.