Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi, on Friday explained why the governors failed to reach a consensus on the creation of state police during a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
Fayemi, who is also the governor of Ekiti State, told newsmen after the meeting that while there are states in support of creation of state police, some are opposed to it.
He explained that the major reason those in opposition are against the move was because of economic realities on ground.
The NGF chairman nonetheless, said that the matter would be further looked into by the National Economic Council (NEC), which Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo chairs. NEC meeting are attended by governors and government officials who oversee economic matters.
Fayemi said, “On whether state governors should be involved in state policing, the position of NGF on that is that we have not taken position because experiences vary. There are governors and states that do not necessarily lend themselves to evolve policing at the states.
“There are also states where there are agitations for it. There are governors who have the views that that will work better in such states. And of course, there are the economic issues relating to that.
“So, we have the issue of capacity at the state level to fund state policing. Those are all issues that will come into play when we get to the National Economic Council meeting that has been called, particularly, because there is a committee that is looking into it after the submission of the report on SARS. So, we will take all of these together.”
Meanwhile, opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors have met and declared their total support for creation of state police and have demanded for its immediate establishment in order for Nigeria to cushion the worsening insecurity situation currently facing it and its citizens.
