Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, has accused some former governors in the North-West of compromising the security alliance among states in the region by “wining and dining” with bandits and terrorists.
In an interview with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Tuesday, Sani, who did not mention names, claimed that the governors took an “extremely wrong” approach in managing the internal affairs of their states, leading to the current security challenges.
“I remember when the Kaduna State Government and some states within the North-West — and even Niger State, they have borders with us — came together to work out a framework to tackle this issue of insecurity.
“We had a joint committee, joint funding, working closely with all the security agencies — the army, the air force and the police.
“But unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the alliance broke down when some state governors decided to start engaging the bandits and the terrorists sitting with them, winning and dining with them, compensating them, negotiating with them,” he said.
According to the governor, the creation of state police is the only way to end Nigeria’s security challenges, adding that it is necessary considering the limited powers governors have on security agencies.
He furthered that he is pleased that virtually all state governors now to agree that state police is necessary.
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“Recall that I was the senator that actually sponsored the creation of state police in the National Assembly. We took the bill up to the level of conference committee when we were working toward amending constitution.
“Of course the Senate agreed and supported my bill for the creation of state police but we had conference committee with the House of Reps. Unfortunately, we lost it at that stage, but I believe there is no way we can resolve or solve the problem of insecurity without the creation of state police.
“When you look at the arrangements of the security in Nigeria, state governors have limited powers in the affairs of security agencies in our country and as a senator we have done a lot in trying to support all the relevant government security agencies but unfortunately we have not achieved a lot because we realised that state governors have limited powers.
“That is the reason we believe we need to create the state police and I was happy just before the election virtually all the state governors in Nigeria came together and agreed that the way forward is the creation of state police,” he said.
Sani also hoped the 10th Assembly would revisit the issue, adding that even as a governor he would support the Assembly to that effect.
“I believe the 10th Assembly will definitely bring the issue of state police back into the conversation because that is something important.
“That was why in my inaugural speech I made it clear that even as a governor I will continue to support the 10th National Assembly to ensure we continue with the battle for creation of state police,” he added.
