The Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi on Friday disclosed that they are yet to take any position on the creation of state police in the country.
This is coming days after a presidential committee on the reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) recommended the creation of state and local government police to tackle security challenges.
Briefing newsmen at the end of an expanded national security council meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, Fayemi said the meeting was convened at their instance to address the security challenges.
According to him,“We had a very fruitful meeting with Mr. President. Of course he was not oblivious of the challenges, he gets security reports on a daily basis, he understands what the issues are.
“But we felt as chief security officers in our respective states, it is also important for us to at least keep Mr. president abreast of the enormity or the challenges we are facing and also highlight the concerns of our citizens across the board about rural banditry, farmers/herders clashes, kidnapping, militancy in the Delta, insurgency, cultism,” he said.
“The position of NGF on that (state police) is that we have not taken position because experiences vary.
There are governors and states where their experience does not necessarily lend itself to more evolved policing to the states. There are also states where there are agitations for it, there are governors who have the view that that will work better in such states. And of course there are the economic issues relating to that.”
“In conclusion we agreed that these issues will be much more comprehensively dealt with at a special meeting of the National Economic Council of which governors are members, presided over by the vice president.
