Governor of Oyo state, Seyi Makinde has stressed that the establishment of state police would help the nation effectively face its security challenges.
Governor Makinde asked the Federal Goverment to remove police from the exclusive list and give the state government power to maintain its policing.
Makinde made this call on Tuesday, when the South West Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, led by its chairman and Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Honourable Adeoye Aribasoye, paid him a visit at the Oyo governor’s office, Ibadan, over the recent explosion in Ibadan.
Makinde noted that with present security challenges, it was high time the federal government seriously looked into the imperativeness of multi-level policing while discountenanced notions that states cannot fund state police as unfounded.
He argued that if police is moved from exclusive to concurrent list, states would have access to more resources from the federation account to efficiently shoulder the responsibility of maintaining state police.
Makinde said, “A lot of people may not know that before we launched Amotekun in this state, some of us governors went to the Federal Government and we asked to be allowed to set up state police for our various states but we did not get that approval during the time of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I disagreed at that particular time and still disagree to date that the states are not in the position to maintain state police. I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a particular state and gave the police everything they needed. So, the states are already maintaining the police.
“So, the issue of being unable to maintain state police will not arise again. Give us the responsibility first and see if certain states will be able to maintain it or not.
“But since we could not get state police, we settled for Amotekun. All the state assemblies in the South West passed a common law for its establishment. So, we have to be pushing for state police, and you lawmakers have a role to play to make that a reality.”
The governor maintained that there is a need for collaboration and cooperation between the executive arm of government and the legislators to deliver dividends of democracy and bring development to the people.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislators, South-West, Honourable Aribasoye described Makinde as a dynamic governor, while he also lauded his efforts in re-engineering the state through various developmental projects.
He commended the governor for his proactiveness and prompt response to the unfortunate incident at Bodija. He also expressed confidence that there would be continuous support and harmonious relationships between the legislative and the executive arms of government for better governance.
In attendance were the Chairman, Nigeria Conference of Speakers and Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin; Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Honourable Olamide Adesanmi and the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Honourable Adewale Egbedun.
