Gagdi Warns Against State Police, Says Governors Cannot Be Trusted

Member representing Pankshin/Kanam/Kanke constituency of Plateau state, Mr Yusuf Gagdi has warned that governors cannot be trusted with state police because of how they manage local government elections.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Mr Gagdi said state electoral commissions are routinely manipulated to ensure the ruling party wins all local government seats.

“At the national level, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) allows room for competitiveness. No matter how you describe it, INEC has conducted elections in Nigeria where you have opposition governors”.

“There is no election conducted by INEC that the opposition does not win more than 10 of the 36 states in the federation. But tell me one state in Nigeria where the state independent electoral commission conducts elections and you have 2 per cent of the members of the legislative arm of government at the local government level. Mention one. Irrespective of APC and PDP, I am not talking about the party now.”

“Mention one state governor who conducted an election and you have 2 per cent of the members of the local legislative council won by the opposition. “Tell me one state, including my APC states, that you have one or two local government council chairmen that the opposition members win”.

“It means, therefore, that you will rate INEC at the national level as more transparent and better than the state independent electoral commission. Now, if the governors cannot handle a state independent commission fairly, how will you trust them with the power to control AK-47 at the state level? I am entitled to my opinion”.

“If they cannot handle a state-independent electoral commission well and even allow opposition to win in a relatively fair election, but they take everything for themselves, strangling opposition, chasing and arresting and announcing the result they want to announce.”

“This does not happen in a
national election [election conducted by INEC], how do you give them (governors) state police? He said”.

The remarks come amid ongoing constitutional review debates at the National Assembly, where state police is one of the most contentious proposals. Supporters, including President Bola Tinubu and several governors, argue it would strengthen Nigeria’s fight against insecurity, particularly kidnapping and rural banditry.

Earlier this month, Mr Tinubu said, he is reviewing all the aspects of security stressing the need to create state police, and we are looking at that holistically.”

However, analysts warn that granting governors control of state police could lead to abuse, as they might use it as a tool against political opponents.

Last year, Governor of Niger State, Umar Bago, said while the state supports state police, the framework could lead to tyranny.

On Saturday, Deputy speaker of the house of representatives who also chairs the Committee on constitution review, Mr Benjamin Kalu urged Nigerians not to let those concerns derail the reform.

Kalu said the focus should be on building safeguards against abuse rather than rejecting the idea outright.

Human rights groups have also expressed concern that state-controlled security forces could be used to stifle dissent.

Instead of creating state police, Gadgi advocated strengthening community policing already recognised in the Police Act, which, he noted, gives communities a role in nominating representatives for policing at local, state, and federal levels.

“We have community policing in the present Police Act. Why can’t we strengthen the community policing? he asked.

According to him, the law recognises community involvement by allowing them to nominate representatives into the policing structure.

The legislator said that in community policing, communities are represented at different levels: federal constituency, senatorial district, and local government.

He explained that the council is chaired by the paramount ruler of that area at the local government level, while at the state level, the commissioner of police and the chairman of the council of chiefs jointly oversee the structure.

The lawmaker maintained that community policing, as provided for in the Police Act, gives people greater power to secure their domains than creating state police would.

He added that with federal and community policing working together, citizens would have less incentive to violate the law.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji