Yahaya, however, noted that establishment of state police is a constitutional matter that must pass through legislative process
By Kehinde Okeowo
Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern State Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, has joined the growing list of prominent Nigerians calling for the creation of state police.
He made the call while speaking with State House correspondents after a closed-door talks with Vice President, Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Yahaya, a situation where security agencies have their command bases situated at the nation’s capital makes it difficult for governors to exercise their powers as chief security officers of their states.
He went on to say the bottlenecks created by such command structure slow down security agencies’ response time to crime.
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He further added that state police will enable state governors to tackle the security challenges in their domain.
“I believe when the bill or law passes through the National Assembly, it will have an easy passage through the state because, inadvertently, it is the states that are managing security now; every state has its own arm of security that is supporting the security agencies.
“Even though it is said that the governors are the chief security officers, the men in the command on ground, meaning the G.O.C. and the commissioner of police or any head of security agency, are only responsible to their commanders in Abuja.
“So, before an action is taken, it takes time. But, with the state police, we will be able to monitor the boss and implement any decision hastily and there will be results. That is our conviction,” Gov Yahaya said.
He, however, noted that it was a constitutional matter that must pass through the process of legislation.