Senate minority leader criticises state police, says governors have personal agenda

The Minority Leader of the Senate, Abba Moro, has faulted the proposed establishment of state police as a solution to the country’s security challenges.

Mr Moro, who represents Benue South Senatorial District, said governors advocating state police are doing so to push their personal interests rather than improve security.

The minority leader, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated this while addressing journalists at the National Assembly on Wednesday after plenary. He spoke as a follow-up to a motion he sponsored on the need to halt the killings in his senatorial district.

He expressed concern that many state governments would struggle to sustain funding for state police and warned that the institution could be compromised in the same way as state independent electoral commissions.

“How are we sure, like I used to say, that the state police will not be put to use the way the state independent electoral commission has been put in recent times, endangering our democracy? I think at the moment, those asking for state police are asking for it as an institution to put to whatever use they want, not necessarily as an institution to confront the menace of insecurity,” he said.

Mr Moro referenced the situation in Benue State, where he said the government had allegedly failed to consistently pay a monthly stipend of ₦15,000 to members of local security outfits, while also lacking the equipment needed to combat insecurity.

“In my state, we have those of you from Benue State, you know about the existence of Operation Zenda, which is a coming together of all the security forces to form one unit of operation. We also have in Benue State the volunteer guards, and from the part of the state that I come from, we have the homeland security.

“I stand to be corrected, but at the last time I checked, the N15,000 for personnel of the operation Vanguard in Benue State had not been paid, and they lack the necessary logistics and equipment to confront the menace of armed attacks,” Mr Moro said.

The senator questioned how governors who struggle to fund existing security outfits would finance a state police force.

“The question that begs for an answer is this. If you are unable to equip these informal security outfits to pay a stipend of N15,000 every month to personnel of these outfits, where are you going to get the money to fund the state police?

“I just pray that in the face of this menace, all of us are alive going forward to see what the state police will do, because in these states that have been clamouring for state police, they have informal security outfits,” he added.

State Police Bill

The Senate passed the state police bill in June after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support during a manual voting process.

The House of Representatives, which had earlier passed its version of the bill, withdrew it on Tuesday and has commenced consideration of the Senate’s version.

After passage by both chambers, the bill will be transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly. At least 24 state legislatures must approve it before it can be sent to the president for assent.

There have been several debates regarding the state police. Those who supported the bill have repeatedly argued that state policing would bring security closer to the people, improve intelligence gathering and strengthen local responses to crime.

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Section 17 of the bill, which deals with appointment, command, direction and tenure, provides that while the Inspector-General of Police shall head the Federal Police Service, the State Police Service shall be headed by a Commissioner of Police appointed by the governor of the state, subject to confirmation by the state’s House of Assembly.

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Section 17(6) states that a state governor may give lawful written directives of a general policy nature to the Commissioner of Police of the state on matters relating to the maintenance of public safety and public order.

These sections literally empower governors to exercise significant influence over state policing institutions, while state houses of assembly would provide legislative oversight.

The bill also establishes a State Police Service Commission under Section 22, with powers to recruit personnel and to oversee promotions and discipline of officers within the state police structure.

The state government would also bear substantial responsibility for funding and administering the state police. Although the bill does not expressly state how governors would finance the police, the significant role assigned to state governments suggests that much of the funding would come from the states.

This arrangement effectively gives governors considerable influence over the appointment and supervision of commissioners of police in their respective states.

If implemented, the authority presently concentrated in Abuja would be shared with state governments. This redistribution of security powers could have profound electoral consequences.