State Police: Governors, NASS in a battle of wits

 

There is a battle line drawn between members of the National Assembly and Governors as the latter have maintained that the States Houses of Assembly will not consider the ongoing constitution amendment until the National Assembly reintroduces the State police bill.

In line with the 1999 constitution, constitutional amendment bills passed by both chambers of the National Assembly must also be backed by 24 state Houses of Assembly.

As always, both sides are recruiting allies to fight the battle. The lawmakers, led by Deputy Senate President Ovie Omoagege, have recruited the Nigerian Labour Congress and National Union of Local Government Employees.

The governors so far have the Speakers of the States Houses of Assembly on their side.

DAILY POST recalls that the House of Representatives rejected the State police bill at the committee stage, but the governors, under the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) have agreed that it is State police or nothing.

Essentially, the lawmakers appear to be scared of giving governors the power to control police and use it against them.

During a press conference on Monday, the Deputy Senate President, Omo-Agege explained the reasons the lawmakers were wary of giving governors State police.

He stated that, “Same State governors who are clamouring for State police, in their States, they have not been able to pay salaries. Some are owing salaries for months and they want State police. What does that entail? Placing guns in the hands of ‘new sets of employees’, because that is what they are. If they are not paid salaries in 4 or 5 months, what happens? They may decide to rent out the guns to armed robbers in return for money.”

Omo-Agege added that some political “youths” may be scared of their State governors deploying police against them.

“There is also the political youth, who fear that the State police could be deployed on them. In some States, members of the National Assembly cannot even go home for fear of the governors who don’t even control police but the control they have over police bosses in their respective States,” he said.

Instances of governors dealing with lawmakers

There have been several instances where governors have dealt with federal lawmakers in their States.

Before the governorship primaries, Governor Nyesom Wike ordered police to arrest Farrah Dagogo, a member of the House of Representatives who showed interest to become the governor of the State.

Wike had, in a statement by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, ordered police to arrest Dagogo on allegations that the lawmaker used cultists to disrupt political activities in the State.

In 2018, at the peak of the fight between Governor Umar Guanduje and his successor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr Rabiu Yusuf, had advised Kwankwaso, who was then in the Senate, not to visit Kano for the local government election rally planned by the opposition.

Also, recently, a Senatorial candidate of Labour Party for Ebonyi South, Linus Okorie, who is running against Governor Dave Umahi, was arrested.

The police claimed that Okorie, a former member of the House of Representatives, was arrested for “utterances that incited and provoked the violence that engulfed Onicha community which led to suspected gunmen to unleash mayhem in the area in 2021.”

There are many instances where lawmakers have accused governors of using the police and other security outfits against the opposition, particularly during elections. Most often, it is described as “federal might”.

While the lawmakers and governors are bickering over State police and holding the constitutional amendment process hostage, several other bills are in the balance.

A Security Expert, Air Commodore (Rtd.) Temisan Freedom, said the lawmakers cannot continue to deny governors State police.

He stated that it was improper for governors to be State chief security officers but are unable to provide security for citizens. He stated that lawmakers can sit down with security experts to develop modalities for the creation of State police.

“If you are the chief security officer of a State, and they tie your hands behind your back, it is not alright. The fear is that the governors may misuse the opportunity and that fear is real.

“What you do is that you limit them to civil cases. At all costs, political matters, even when they intervene, within 24 hours, must be handed over to federal police.

“There must be territorial segregation. Where will the State police operate? We can limit them to specific areas. The federal police can occupy the area headquarters. All the DPOs will become State police.

“The State police officers will not carry an automatic weapon. There are what we call jittery guns. It has a limited magazine capacity. Even when they carry anything resembling automatic weapons, there must be limited magazine capacity. They should be confined fully to non-criminal matters. The federal rapid response team can offer tactical support during an armed robbery. I have developed a paper on how to set up State police with the standard operating procedure,” he said.

He added that State police are inevitable as some regions like southwest and southeast have set up security outfits.

Aside from the bills that are stuck in different States Houses of Assembly, there is also the cost of the ongoing constitutional amendment.

On Monday, the question was put to Omo-Agege on how much the committee has spent on amending the constitution, but he refused to answer.

The race to get the constitution amended must be concluded before the 29th of May, else, another administration may have to take over and start all over again.