A Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Engr. Kailani Muhammad has urged former President, Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent Governor of Kaduna state, Dr. Uba Sani amongst others to tone down their consistent agitation for the creation of State Police.
This is just as he said that the agitations for the creation of State Police could be suicidal to Nigeria’s democracy.
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The Kaduna based politician who frowned at the agitations for the formation of State Police, added that, there are numerous reasons indicating that the country is not yet prepared for State-level policing.
Engr. Kailani stated this while addressing journalists at his Kaduna residence at the weekend, where he highlighted obstacles that may hindered the operations of State Police in Nigeria if established.
He said the mindset of Nigerian governors is yet to adjust to the true principles of democracy, where it is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.
The APC Chieftain added that: “It is instructive to note that, most of our State Governors believe they are demi- gods, and truly act as such. Once they take the Oath of Office, they abandon all tenets and principles of democracy, that essentially brought them to office. The problem is complex.
“Therefore, to avail the Nigerian state governors, the powers to control an entire State Police under his sole authority, could be suicidal to Nigerian democracy. This is because, even now when the Police structure is not under their supervision, some state governors still attempt to resort to the Police Commands in their states to coerce the electorate during elections to toe their political paths during voting.
“More over, state governors are presently finding it difficult to pay state staff salaries, so where will they get the money to pay State Police, when they solely rely on the Federal Government’s allocation without recourse to the diverse natural resources in their states to improve on their Intenally Generate Revenue (IGR).
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“There is a constructive argument that state governors might use State Police to intimidate, blackmail and victimize Nigerians, either for political, ethnic, tribal or social gains for themselves, to the detriment of the state.
“We cannot afford to copy the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany or any other country on the issue of State Police, because we are not ready for it now,” Engr. Kailani emphasised.
