Senate will back agitation for state police — Spokesperson, Adaramodu

Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, has said the federal lawmakers have no reservations about the agitation for state police.

Senator Adaramodu clarified on Friday while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the 36 state governors at an emergency meeting on Thursday agreed to put modalities in place for the establishment of state police to mitigate the security challenges facing the country.

President Tinubu specifically approved the establishment of a committee comprising state governors and representatives of the Federal Government to, among other things, explore modalities for establishing state police.

The senate spokesperson who described the stance of President Tinubu and the governors as a welcome development said the senate would be willing to partner with the executive to guarantee the safety of the lives and property of Nigerians.

He, however, noted that ultimately, the parliament would be guided by the positive response of Nigerians towards the establishment of state police as he maintained that since lawmakers are representatives of the people they would be guided by feedback from Nigerians on their business of legislation.

He said: “The parliament is to make laws and the laws that the parliament will make will not be generated outside of the interest and aspirations of Nigerians. So if either the federal government or the state governors or whoever wants state police and then we are about to inaugurate a constitution amendment committee and then when we now put them in place, they will now go out there and meet up with all the critical stakeholders in Nigeria within the sectors, traditional rulers and so on.

“So when they now meet and then we aggregate and we know that this is what Nigerians want, that is the law that we are going to make; we represent the people and the law must be people’s law.

“So once it is going to be the people’s law, whatever kind of police that we want in Nigeria that Nigerians want, that is what the National Assembly will give to them. Another thing is that we want to ensure that because when we talk about the constitutional amendment or even making of it, we need 24 states of the federation to concur with us. So it does not end up with the national, it starts from the National Assembly and ends with them. So it is not a one-way lawmaking.

“So as Nigerians are desirous through their governors and then the presidency that Nigeria policing must be rejiged then we have to find something to do about it so that we can ensure that there is peace in our land. So definitely we are going to follow suit. By the time our committee that the senate president will be putting together is inaugurated very soon. So by the time they come back to us and this is their takeaway from their rapport with various sectors of the Nigerian populace, then definitely that is what we are going to call it.”

The senate spokesperson also justified the vote of confidence passed in the service chiefs on Tuesday after an executive session that lasted for over twelve hours.

“The thing is this. We have to encourage them. We have to make sure that people who are in charge of our security, whatever suggestion, whatever fears of apprehension that we have after expressing that they give us assurances, they give us the milestones they have been able to cover, a timeline of what they wish to do, we have to give them the chance and look up to them, let them deliver within the timeline that they have given us.

“And if they have told us that maybe one or two grey areas that we need to come in and we have not come in and we are coming in now, especially the judicial area whereby we are talking about speedy prosecution of any culprit or suspect so apprehended with the various activities of bandits and terrorists and that of kidnappers especially, then I think we need to.“