Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) Advocates State Police

 

.... Urges National Assembly To  Quicken Passage Of Electoral Act Amendment Bill 

At the virtual meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, held on 16th February, 2021, the governors x-rayed the state of the nation, in particular, the various challenges facing the country in respect of security, economy and other matters of national importance.

The following decisions were reached:

On the issue of national security, the PDP Governors’ Forum congratulated the newly appointed Service Chiefs and recommended the complete overhauling of the national security architecture.

The Forum strongly recommended the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force and imperative introduction of the state police in Nigeria, as one of the solutions to stem the tide of insecurity ravaging the country.

In addition, the Forum requests Mr. President to convene a consultative meeting of Nigeria Police Council to appoint an Inspector of Police whether in acting or permanent capacity as envisaged under the 1999 Constitution.

Nigeria Police Force as an institution is a common services agency for all tiers of government in Nigeria, that is why the Nigeria Police Council is made up of the President as Chairman, 36 State Governors, Chairman of Police Service Commission and Inspector General of Police as members.

The Council is the constitutionally designated forum for discussion of security matters in the country, particularly with respect to policing. 

It is worthy of note that the newly introduced community policing infrastructure is already being implemented more in breach. The current Nigeria Police Act envisaged that community policing should serve as a decentralised measure of grass roots policing and various roles were assigned to various parties, including the governors of the states.

Unfortunately, in the Constitution and operationalisation of the community policing activities in the various states so far, partisanship has taken over the recruitment process. We no longer have faith in the neutrality and capacity of the Community Policing system to serve the purposes envisaged under the new Police Act, we therefore call on the Police authorities to sanitise the system.

The meeting further deliberated on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill pending before the National Assembly and urged the National Assembly to expedite action in the passage of the Bill. This is necessary in order to avoid the pitfalls that befell the amendment process in the 8th National Assembly, where Mr. President vetoed the Bill on the ground among others, that the amendment came too late in the day.

The Forum congratulated Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment as Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and wishes her well in her new assignment. The Forum further requested her to use her new office to facilitate trade and investment between Nigeria and other countries.