Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna State, has allayed concerns that if state police are established, they will be used by governors to crush political opponents.
Governor Sani met State House media following Thursday’s National Economic Council meeting in Abuja. He said that 36 state governors had submitted positions on state police establishment, with all expressing overwhelming support.
The trend has fueled several calls for the establishment of state police. However, there have always been concerns that state governors would abuse them in some cases.
However, in an interview with Politics Today on Friday, Governor Sani stated that the National Assembly can address the concern of governors misusing state police.
“The issue of whether governors will use them (state police) against their opponents is something that can only happen if the National Assembly and those people that will craft the law gives the state police all the powers to do that,” the state’s governor remarked.
“The act of lawmaking is when people sit together and look at the advantages and disadvantages of some of the clauses.”
The Kaduna governor feels that if the state police had been in operation for three years, most Nigerian states would not be experiencing the insecurity that currently hinders business activity, among other things.
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He stated that having state police will solve the problem of intelligence collection and sharing among security forces in the country because most people live in communities and are more familiar with the landscape.
Governor Sani stated that the ability of state governments to fund state police will not be a major issue because most governors now budget large sums to help federal law enforcement.
The governor stated that the state governors’ perspectives on forming state police are crucial because the National Economic Council alone cannot accomplish this task.
He emphasized that state houses of assembly play a crucial part in the process, therefore gathering all of the states’ viewpoints is critical before moving further. This, he claimed, will make the procedure more efficient.
