Funding, Fear of Indiscriminate Arrests and Why State Police Bill Will Likely Fail According To A Senator

Chairman, Senate committee on police affairs, Abu Ibrahim, believes the creation of state police may not come to fruition due to fear of indiscriminate arrest and detention by state governors.

The bill which is being sponsored by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, has passed first reading in the senate.

Ibrahim, however, informed journalists on Sunday that the bill may not get two-third majority to get through to third reading and passage.

He said although lawmakers from some parts of the country may vote in favour of the bill, others may not due to fear of abuse.

“My fear is the required numbers. The disagreement between the National Assembly members and governors may kill it,” Ibrahim said.

“This is because I know many senators and house of representatives members think that if state governors get state police, they can trample on them, arrest and detain them.

“From my assessment, there is no way it will get two thirds in the national assembly.

“Probably the bulk of south-west senators will go for it because in the area, there is some control and there is synergy because of the control system.

“I do not want to mention names but there are states that there is no way they will vote for its passage. From the way I see it, nine states out of 37 will not vote for it. But let us see how it goes.”

He also said there were other factors that may not allow the structure to work effectively.

According to him, the basic problem with the establishment of state police is funding.

“If you create state police, will you get a better funding? These are the things we should ask ourselves,” he said.

“What are the main reasons for failure of the federal police system if it is regarded as failure. The reason is lack of funding.

“You give Nigeria Police N20 billion as budgetary allocation when they require about N300 billion.

“Even the N20 billion is not fully released. It is sometimes between 40 per cent and 50 per cent.

“So, will state police do better. They may know the locality better but do they have the resources?.

“Can the states pay them their salaries and allowances. These are things we should look into, ” he said.