Insecurity: Buhari rejects State Police

• Fears abuse of powers by governor

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected devolution of powers and the establishment of state police. The President expressed fear that governors will abuse their powers if state police is established in the country. He argued that state police are not the solution to the insecurity in Nigeria.

The President in an interview with Channels Television which is scheduled for telecast on Wednesday at 7.00pm, said he opposes state police because Governors will abuse their powers in the implementation of the devolution of powers in the aspect.

President Buhari was cited to have stated: “State police is not an option.

“Find out the relationship between local government and the Governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally? Are they getting it? Let the people in local government tell you the truth, the fight between local governments and the Governor.”

However, the President got it wrong on this argument. The issue of state police in a federalism, just like other issues of the judicial system, etc., is conventionally between the states and the federal governments, which are the federating units. Local governments are not part of the federating units but administrative components of the states. In a federalism, states have direct control of local governments, any interference by the federal government is ultra vires.

Federal and states governments are major actors on the issue of state police and the constitution spells out the limits or jurisdiction of powers, or what happens when there is conflict. Therefore, President Buhari’s argument and excuse for rejecting state police, linking local governments, do not hold water.

Several elder statesmen have advocated for state police as part of restructuring Nigeria’s cheqered federal system, but northern elite often oppose the advocacy simply because it comes from the south.

The Nigerian Police Force is currently centralized and solely controlled by the Federal Government.

President Buhari, according to Channels TV interview, rather considers active roles of traditional rulers in finding solutions to the insecurity in the country. However, even at that, traditional rulers are within the jurisdiction of state governments not the federal government.

The President had made a case for more dialogue to resolve the farmer-herder clashes across the country.

President Buhari was cited to have stated: “The role of traditional rulers must not be undermined, because in their areas they know who is who, even by families, not to even talk of individuals.

“So, we have to revert to that system for us to have effective security in the localities.

“For example, there were two Governors that came to see me about security problems – Oyo State and one other state – because the herders were in their forests but the animals were going into the neighbouring farms, and eating the crops; I said, as far as I know, the farmers and herders have been co-existing in Nigeria for generations. Let them go and ask the local leadership what has gone wrong, why the break in communication between the local leadership and the herders.”

Meanwhile, till the full interview is telecast by Channels TV, the President may have more to say about the killer herdsmen in the country.