As the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government and governors of the 36 states agree on the establishment of state police to address the rising insecurity in the country, the Coalition of Federalists for Good Governance, CFGG, has called on the National Assembly to back up the proposal with required constitution amendment.
The Federalists, in a statement jointly signed by their National Coordinator, Taiye Odewale and Secretary, Aisha Jibrin, commended the President and the governors for looking at the direction of the states-owned policing security outfits as obtainable in most federations of the world.
President Tinubu and the governors had at an emergency meeting on Thursday, in Abuja, agreed on the establishment of State Police to nip crime and criminality in the bud at the grassroots, as against fighting them from the national level with little or no results.
The lack of State Police arising from the over-centralized federation imposed on Nigeria by the military since 1966, according to CFGG, is one of the systemic dysfunctions afflicting the Nigeria federation over the decades and stifling its growth and development across the various sectors.
The group, in the statement, said establishing state-owned and controlled Police outfits, would address the dysfunctionality of the Nigerian federation in the area of security, which the existing centralized security architecture has no answer for.
It, therefore, called on the 469 federal lawmakers at the National Assembly, to key into the proposal with required constitutional amendment to that effect and concurrence from at least 24 out of the 36 States Houses of Assembly.
The statement reads in part: “The Coalition of Federalists for Good Governance in Nigeria (CFGG), commend President Bola Tinubu and the 36 states governors for finally settling for establishment of State Police in Nigeria as obtainable in 24 other federations of the world.
“As a result of the self-inflicted systemic dysfunctions afflicting the Nigerian Federation over the decades, the centre (Federal Government), is obviously getting suffocated with challenges and responsibilities at hand, one of which is the security of the citizens and the country itself.
“We, the Federalists, welcome the lofty idea of creating State Police in Nigeria at this very challenging time security-wise, and also, to correct one of the abnormalities of the over-centralized federation imposed on the country by the military from 1966 to 1999 which supposed to have been corrected within the last 25 years.
“On the template of security, the abnormality in question are the conflicting provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which on one hand in section 2(2), declares Nigeria as a federation but on another hand in section 214, imposes a unitary or single policing on the country aside putting policing on Exclusive List as against concurrent list of the constitution.
“Crime is local and can best be detected and fought at the grassroots by security outfits close to the locals like State Police and not endless security summits at the centre or endless hours of interactive sessions with heads of centralized security agencies by the National Assembly.
“Aside from unitary policing being addressed now, other abnormalities of the over-centralized federation imposed on us by the military, shall also be pointed out for required corrections at public hearings to be organized by Constitution Review panels being set up by the 10th National Assembly, which to us, should deviate from cosmetic constitution amendment exercise, carried out by the previous Assemblies.”
