Immediate past Deputy Senate President and Senator representing Enugu West, Ike Ekweremadu, will tomorrow, Tuesday, present before the Senate for first reading a bill for the creation of State Police.
A copy of the bill sighted by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the bill seeks to decentralise the national security architecture as it proposed the creation of the Federal Police, State Police, National Police Service Commission, National Police Council, and State Police Service Commission for the States.
In the subsisting 1999 Constitution, the Nigerian Police Force is in the exclusive legislative list with provisions for only the police service commission.
The Bill proposed that the State Police “Shall be organised and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by a Law of the House of Assembly of a State subject to the framework and guidelines established by an Act of the National Assembly.”
It further proposed that a Commissioner of Police to serve a five-year tenure shall be appointed by the state governor, subject to the confirmation of the state assembly and on the advice of the National Police Service Commission.
To regulate the excesses of governors, the proposed State Police Service Commission is expected to have a sustained interface with the central body for the federal police, the National Police Service Commission to shield the State Police Commissioners from perceived overbearing posture and excesses of their respective governors.
The Bill read in part: “The Governor may give to the Commissioner of Police such lawful directives with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directives.
“Where the Commissioner of Police feels that any order given is unlawful or contradicts general policing standards or practice, he may request that the matter be referred to the State Police Service Commission for review.
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“The decision of the State Police Service Commission shall be final and shall not be inquired into by any court.
“An Act of the National Assembly may prescribe a bi-annual certification review of the activities of State Police by the National Police Service Commission to ensure they meet up with approved national standards and guidelines of policing and their operations do not undermine national integrity, promote ethnic, tribal or sectional agenda or marginalize any segment of the society within the state.”
While it enunciates grounds for the removal of a State Commissioner of Police to include, Misconduct in the performance of his official duties, serious breach of policing standards, conviction of any offence by a court of law or tribunal, including administrative tribunals set up by the police authorities for internal disciplining of police officers, indictment by a judicial body or tribunal for corruption, fraud, embezzlement or other unacceptable conducts in office, mental Incapacity, amongst others, it, however, gave a provision that such Commissioner of Police could only be relieved of his position by approval of the two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly of the State.
The proposed bill equally offered details of the functions of the envisaged state police service commission.
It reads: “Recommending the appointment of a commissioner of police, deputy commissioner of police and assistant commissioner of police to the National Police Service Commission.
“The appointment, discipline and removal of members of the state police below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police; and
“Other functions and powers of the commission as may be specified either in the Constitution or a Law of the House of Assembly of a State.
“In recommending the appointment of a Commissioner of Police, the Commission shall propose three qualified candidates to the National Police Service Commission.”
Meanwhile, Senator Ekweremadu has dismissed the Community Policing being canvassed by the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, as a fraud.
Speaking on a Channels Television programme, “Hard Copy” monitored by Nigerian Tribune at the weekend, the former Deputy Senate President argued that Community Policing was a ploy to distract genuine agitation for State Police, which he noted was a normal practice in every federal union.
He said:” Now they are talking about Community Policing. They are two different things but they are mixing the two concepts and that is even confusing our people the more. For me, it is a total distraction, a fraud because what they are telling us which they don’t seem to understand is that there is a problem between the community and the Police itself.
We need to address that lack of trust and confidence. We need to send a message to the villagers, the community people that Police are their friends, cooperate with them, give them information. That’s what Community Policing is all about. If you have a federal system, you must have a complete package of a security architecture that will be able to deal with situations in a complex manner. We don’t have that right now. “