Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said on Monday that the submission of memoranda by state governors for state police was nothing short of a pointless exercise.
In an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Makinde criticized the recent submission of reports by 16 governors to the National Economic Council, advocating for the establishment of state police.
Sixteen state governors submitted reports last week communicating their support for setting up state police to the National Economic Council.
They moreover suggested changes to the constitution to permit the creation of state police.
While the advocates argue that state police would ease the nation’s security challenges, Makinde, along with 20 other governors, remains unconvinced.
He rejected the approach, declaring that handling the issue of state police ought to squarely rest with the National Assembly, not the NEC or the National Security Adviser.
However, 20 other governors had yet to forward their reports to empower the NEC to act on them.
Reacting, Makinde, who clarified that he did not submit any memoranda on state policing, considered the submission a futile endeavor.
“I did not submit any notice to the state police. But my position is exceptionally clear about state police. I see it, quite frankly, as a squander of our time.
“I did not submit, not because of self-importance but because I don’t think the approach will rapidly get us to where we need to go. You are inquiring the states to submit memoranda on how state police will work,” he stated.
Makinde underlined that the state police issue ought to be dealt with by the National Assembly, given its constitutional nature, before being adopted by state Houses of Assembly.
“The National Assembly knows what to do. They have individuals who can rapidly do this work. It is not the National Security Counsel or the National Economic Council that will deal with the issue of state police.
“It is a constitutional thing and ought to go to the National Assembly. At that point, at the state level, we get our state Houses of Assembly to pass this law,” the governor included.
