All 36 state Assembly Speakers pledge support for state police
The long agitation for a decentralised police system in Nigeria has gotten a boost on Thursday when all 36 Speakers of the State Houses of Assemblies backed the ongoing constitution review exercise for the creation of state police.
The latest position of the Speakers of the 36 state legislatures comes as a wide departure from the lack of harmony among the states on the issue of creation of state policing system as against the present centralised structure of the security agency.
The speakers’ support for a decentralised police is a boost towards overcoming the constitutional requirement for at least, two-third of votes in two-third number of the states of the federation in support of the Bill on the amendment of the extant Police Act.
The Speakers, under the aegis of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, took the stand in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
The communique was signed by Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Mr Adebo Ogundoyin, who is the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly.
READ ALSO: Proposed State Police Bill: Governors to appoint, sack Police Commissioners
A bill for state police is currently being considered at the National Assembly.
When transmitted to the state assemblies, the Speakers pledged their readiness to support the bill for the state police creation.
The communique read in part, “The conference strongly advocates for state policing to check the negative trend of insecurity in our country.
“To achieve this, the conference appeals to the National Assembly, Presidency and other relevant stakeholders to leverage on the ongoing constitution review exercise.”
The Conference of Speakers acknowledged the “courage of the President Bola Tinubu on his economic policies taken so far such as the removal of petroleum product subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate.”
The speakers, however, noted that, “The unintended consequences of these policies are too harsh on the populace”, and therefore, urged the federal and state governments “to initiate sustainable policies with equal measure of courage to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.”
The Conference lamented the non-observance of the constitutional provisions that grant financial autonomy to the state legislature and “called on all the relevant stakeholders to comply with all the provisions.”
They called for the peaceful resolution of the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, urging the relevant political leaders to explore peaceful means to resolve the political impasse.
