Makinde urges FG to reconsider state police amid insecurity

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Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said state police is necessary to overcome the security problems in different parts of the country.

Makinde said this when he met with the Conference of Speakers of State Legislators, South-West Chapter, led by its chairman and Ekiti State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adeoye Aribasoye on Tuesday. The speakers visited the governor in his office in Ibadan over the January 16 explosion in Bodija. The governor said the Federal Government’s rejection of South-West Governors’ request to create state police a few years ago led to the creation of the Western Nigeria Security Network Agency called Amotekun, and urged the Federal Government to reconsider the matter.

The governor said there is a need for the executive and the legislators to work together to deliver democracy and development to the people.

The governor said, “I want to say that you need to unite regardless of the political party that brought you to office. This shows that the election time is over and you need to have everyone working together to govern and deliver democracy to our people.”

Makinde said state police is an idea that is due and that the worries that some states would not be able to sustain state police are baseless.

He gave the example of Oyo State where paying salaries and pensions has never been a problem despite the economic challenges in the country.

Makinde said, “Many people may not know that before we started Amotekun in this state, some of us governors went to the Federal Government and we asked to be allowed to set up state police for our states but we did not get that approval during President Muhammadu Buhari’s time.

“I did not agree then and I still do not agree now that the states are not able to sustain state police. I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a state and gave the police all they needed. So, the states are already sustaining the police.”“So, the issue of not being able to sustain state police will not come up again. Give us the responsibility first and see if some states will be able to sustain it or not.

“But since we could not get state police, we went for Amotekun. All the state assemblies in the South West passed a common law for its creation. So, we have to push for state police, and you lawmakers have a role to play to make that happen.”