By Sandra Michaels
The Presidency has made a fresh case for State Police, saying Nigeria’s security architecture must connect responsibility for community safety with lawful authority and capacity to act, while Niger State Government has declared full support for the initiative.
Speaking at the 2nd Annual Distinguished Parliamentary Award and Lecture Series organized by the House of Representatives Press Corps at the National Assembly, Mr Nnadubem Moghalu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Bill, said state police offers an opportunity to make policing more responsive to local realities.
Mr Moghalu, who brought felicitations from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, said policing a dense commercial district requires different knowledge than policing a rural transport corridor.
On the legal process, Moghalu disclosed that the National Assembly has transmitted the constitutional amendment Bill for the dual policing model to State Houses of Assembly, with four states – Edo, Rivers, Osun and Oyo – having approved it at the time of preparing his lecture, out of the 24 states required.
In his remarks, the representative of Niger State Governor, Hon. Umar Bago, said Niger State has taken a position in support of State Police and would love to see it become reality, noting that the rate of crime and insecurity makes it clear that Nigeria needs a more effective security architecture that responds to peculiar challenges of communities.
He commended the House of Representatives Press Corps for providing the platform to interrogate the future of policing, stressing that security affects everyone regardless of political party.
