In an attempt to rework the legal framework that guarantees appreciable level of security in Lagos state, stakeholders and the state parliament has taken differing turfs at a recent parley.
Security experts, stakeholders and the Lagos State House differs on the proposed Security Trust Funds (STF) to the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) laws, stating some grey areas in the bills.
The House made a proviso for 10 percent allotment from the STF to the LNSC while stakeholders expressed reservations stating that the ceiling afforded will deny the state security apparatus access to much more fund as the exigencies demands.
The stakeholders expressed their views at a one-day Public Hearing of a Bill for a Law to Amend the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, CH.55 Law of Lagos State.
The public hearing was organised by the Assembly Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, headed by Hon.Adefunmilayo Tejuosho representing Mushin Constituency I.
Section 9 of the Principal Law is to be amended by creating a new subsection (2) (g) as follows “guarantee allocation of 10 per cent of its funds to the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency of the state.”
Dr Abdulrasaki Balogun, the Executive Secretary of the Fund, said that the amendment to the section 9 which proposes allocation of 10 per cent of the funds to LNSC Agency was needless as the law already captured it along with other security outfits.
Balogun said: “This should be predicated on exigencies and needs. We should have it open.”
He said that the agency might even need more than 10 per cent, saying that 80 per cent of STF is donor-driven.
According to him, the security challenge of the state in 2007 led to the creation of the fund and the police inability to combat the security situation due to the underfunding of the force.
Balogun said that the fund was to create standard security for the state, noting that some parts of the proposed amendments would create bureaucracy and impede swift actions.
He said that spontaneous actions to security needs had helped build donor confidence, “10 per cent is not really necessary for LNSC.”
Also, Mr Arthur Worrey, the immediate past boss of the LSSTF, said that the board should be left to exercise its power to disburse funds according to needs.
Worrey said that the law stipulated that the “board shall have power to disburse money according to its discretion”, adding that LNSC should come to the board whenever it was in need.
According to him, the lawmakers should be cautious about House confirmations of some issues capable of impeding the discharge of the fund.
Contributing, Mr Israel Ajao, the Chairman of the LNSC said: “I am proud of this House. The Neighbourhood Safety Agency law is a trail blazing to ensure community policing.”
Ajayi, however, said that LSSTF had been supporting and assisting the agency.
Earlier, Tejuoso said that it was important to know how security funds were being spent to ensure safety, noting that security of lives and property remained a passion of the Assembly.
In his keynote address, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the House, said that the amendment bordered on how to improve the security situation in the state.
Obasa, represented by the Majority Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, said that “no investor will come to a state that is not secured.”
According to him, the pressure in the state has increased potential for crimes, saying that if not for the ingenuity and visionary leaders in the state, security would have deteriorated.
He said that the primary responsibility of government is the security of lives and property as well as the welfare of the citizens, adding that the review was to make the law meet present realities.
Overviewing the bill, Agunbiade said that the proposed amendments affected 12 sections of the bill.
He added that four of them had to do with the functions of the agency in line with the diversities and dynamism of the state security.
“LNSC is to make Lagos State safer. We should be able to cater for the corps. We have seen the challenge of conventional police, we are proposing 10 per cent of the LSSTF to cater for LNSC,’’ he said.
He assured the stakeholders that their contributions would be factored into the final amendment.