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Tag: state police

  • Killings: Senate bows to pressure, to revisit calls for State Police

    The Senate on Tuesday said it would revisit calls for State Police and design framework for mopping up 350 million light weapons suspected to be in circulation within Nigeria.

    President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, made this known while welcoming senators to plenary after a three-week Eid-el-Fitr recess.

    Saraki said that with the security challenges across the country, it seemed that the issues were an indication that it was time to revisit the issue of State Police.

    He said that the 350 million light weapons believed to be circulating around the country, had an alarming ratio of three weapons to one person.

    The Senate president said the responsibility for ensuring security lay with every Nigerian.

    “Issues of criminality are involved in these heinous acts, and the vigilance of community leaders and the average citizen is crucial to assist the security agencies to do their job.

    “Let me use this opportunity to call for calm on all sides.

    “We have called many times for unity and tolerance, and we must remind ourselves of the imperative of peace at this difficult time in our nation.

    “We are resuming plenary today under a pall of national anxiety and apprehension over the state of insecurity in the country.

    “We have been alarmed at so many senseless killings of Nigerians, with the high number of casualties in Plateau being among the most glaring of late,” he said.

    Saraki also said that moderation was needed in speech and actions of people as responsible citizens, even in what might be deemed as provocative situations.

    “We must, therefore, be careful of speech that has the potential to heat up the polity and heighten tensions.

    “We implore the media also to exercise great responsibility in their reporting. Fake news can lead to dire consequences that we can ill-afford.

    “Nigeria is the only country we have,” he said.

    He said that internal tensions were also a reflection of the economic condition of the citizenry, and urged all stakeholders to put Economic Bills on the fast lane “in order that we may conclude them.

    “This is so that we can open the door to greater opportunities for our people. Growth and development can only serve to deepen our democracy.”

    On the achievements of the 8th Senate in the last three years, Saraki said “indeed, we have come a long way and have set a new bar in the legislative history of this country.

    “We have passed 213 Bills in the period under review and cleared 138 Petitions, surpassing in three years, the records of the entire four-year terms of every previous Senate.

    “This is no mean feat. As we hit the home run, therefore, it is important we do not back-pedal or slow down.

    “We must intensify efforts towards doing all that we are sworn to do for the electorate that voted for us as their representatives.

    “With the backing of Nigerians, we have been able to introduce landmark legislations that have helped boost our recovering economy.

    “These include Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which is the most significant business reform Bill in Nigeria in nearly three decades.

    “As a result of the signing into law of the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act and the Credit Bureau Reporting Act, for instance, Nigeria was upgraded on the World Bank’s annual Ease-of-Doing-Business ranking.

    “This has been a very welcome development for our economy and for restoring investor confidence in our business terrain.

    “It was in the life of this Senate that we finally split the atom of the once intractable Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), after almost two decades in the legislative wilderness.

    “We split the Bill into four manageable parts, and not only have we passed the first of those, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).

    “We have started work on the remaining three, the Administrative, Fiscal and Host Communities components of the Bill and have already taken them up to public hearing stage.

    “The clock is ticking and we must ensure that we conclude work on the remaining PIB Bills as soon as possible. Nigerians deserve no less,” Saraki said.

    He further said that the Not-Too-Young-To-Run-Bill, which received Presidential assent on May 31, 2018, received wild jubilation around the country, due to the momentous generational shift it was expected to trigger in national leadership.

    “This is in paving the way for the greater participation of youths in governance.”

    Saraki called on the Executive to expedite the release of funds for the 2018 Budget implementation so that Nigerians could begin to see the positive impact in their lives without delay.

    “The work is not done. We as the senate must continue to exercise our oversight functions to ensure successful implementation and value for money.”

    He advised that as the country inched closer to the 2019 electioneering period, senators must not lose focus.

    “The divided attention of the legislature is not in the interest of the country. We must not be distracted.

    “It is incumbent on us, therefore, to not allow politicking get in the way of our first duty to the Nigerian people, as senators of the Federal Republic.

    “I charge us all to fasten our seatbelts and power on with the work we have been tasked to do.

    “Posterity is watching, and history will vindicate us if we do the job with diligence and in truth,” the senate president said.

  • Security: Senate begins work on creation of state, community police

    Security: Senate begins work on creation of state, community police

    The Senate on Tuesday resolved to direct its constitutional review committee to put in place the machinery to amend the Constitution to allow for the creation of State Police.

    TheNewsGuru reports the Senate also mandated that the Police Reform Bill be passed within the next two weeks.

    This was following a debate on the killings across the nation and in Plateau State, following a Point of Order raised by Senator Jonah Jang.

    Find below the Senate President’s comments:

    “We have talked about the fact that whether these killings were initial acts of aggression or reprisal attacks, it is clear that either way, it is totally unacceptable and we must condemn it in all totality.

    “Secondly, these are acts of criminality and we should not encourage any other colouration to it, be it religious or otherwise. This is criminality. And as such, we have a role to ensure that we must address this criminality to see how we can fight it.

    “We have spoken on many platforms and made suggestions to the Executive on the fact that there is a need for an urgent review of the security architecture of the nation.

    “The debate in the British House of Lords also raises this point: “How do we think this would affect our economy and investments if we continue to have this kind of security climate?” We must see this issue of insecurity not only from the point of view that there is danger and insecurity, but there is also a danger to our economy — especially if we want to grow our economy.

    “We as the Senate must come up with our own actions. We do not need to flog the issue. We have told the Executive what to do. We have told them privately and we have told them publicly. However, on our own part, we must decide on what we need to do.

    “There are a few issues that have come up for discussion:

    “We have had the address from the Security Chiefs that came here on the issue of coordination to strengthen the nation’s security.

    “We have had the Report from the Senate Security Summit that we need to consider and deal with.

    “Now, we have the comments from the Deputy Senate President on the issue of State Police.

    “We have a Bill on Police reform that is due for Second Reading and passage.

    “We have the Composition of the Police Service Commission, which is listed on today’s Order Paper.

    “These are things that are within our control. Let us play our own part to address the issues that we have control over”.

    The Senate, thereafter resolved to:

    “Condemn the terrorist attacks, mass killings and displacement of the people and occupation of their central homes and farmlands;

    “Urge the Executive to overhaul the security architecture of the country and to put in place a better security action plan and decisively tackle violent terror attacks threatening the continuous existence of communities in the North Central geopolitical zone and indeed Nigeria;

    “Urge the Executive arm of the government to undertake the rehabilitation of displaced persons and reconstruction of communities in Plateau North, South and Central Senatorial Districts so they can return to their homes and farmlands;

    “Urge the Executive arm of government to apprehend and persecute all perpetrators and sponsors of violence, no matter how highly placed they are;

    “Direct its constitutional review committee to put in machinery to amend the constitution to allow for the creation of State Police;

    “Fast-track the passage of the Peace and Reconciliation Bill;

    “Call on security agencies to stop involving themselves in the politics of the nation; and

    “Mandate that the Peace and Reconciliation Bill, Police Reform Bill be passed within the next two weeks and the Constitution Review Committee within the next two weeks should bring forward the amendment for State and Community Policing”.

     

  • Establish state police to end killings, attacks across Nigeria – Ekweremadu advises FG

    Establish state police to end killings, attacks across Nigeria – Ekweremadu advises FG

    The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has called for the establishment of state police as the only panacea to stop killings across the country.

    This, he said, was necessary to stop the rising insecurity in the country, particularly the killing of over 100 people in 11 villages in Plateau State by armed Fulani herders.

    Recall that the recent killings has led to a public outcry with prominent Nigerians including the Senate President, Bukola Satraki calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack all the security chiefs for their alleged inability to secure the country and arrest perpetrators of killings across the country particularly Fulani herdsmen.

    But Ekeremadu argued that though the sacking of security chiefs might bring temporary relief, the decentralisation of the nation’s police would go a long way in stemming the tide of violence and killings in the country.

    According to him, those who were opposed to state police have changed their minds in the wake of unending killings across the country.

    He said the bill would be passed in “record time.”

    The Deputy Senate President was said to have given the indication during an interactive session with Fulbright Scholars, Exchange Scholars, and Graduate Students of the International Centre for Information and Nelson Mandela Institute of Research.

    It was his maiden lecture as a Professor and Senior Mentoring Scholar, E-Governance and Strategic Government Studies, at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Social Sciences, Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.

    Ekweremadu was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, as condemning the current system as “dysfunctional and unsuitable for a federal system.”

    He said, “As far as I am concerned, whatever we are doing now is certainly not working and we cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.

    “The real tragedy of the Plateau massacre is that we risk more attacks and loss of lives unless we decentralise our policing and allow every state at least to take its fate in its own hands.

    “So, despite the failure of previous attempts to decentralise the police during constitution amendments, I will introduce a bill that will bring about state police or decentralised policing once I return to Nigeria.”

    The lawmaker pointed out that events in recent years had proven beyond reasonable doubts that the current centralised security system would never help the government to live up to its primary responsibility of improving the welfare of the people and the protection of their lives and property.

    “I think people are now facing the stark reality. I have been getting calls from serving and former governors and key players and interests, who were opposed to the idea of state police. They confessed that they had seen what some of us have been shouting from the rooftops over the years. They want the bill introduced.

    “The members of the (Nigeria) Governors’ Forum are also favourably disposed to the idea now. In fact, their Chairman, the Governor of Zamfara State (Abdulaziz Yari), one of the epicentres of the incessant killings recently ‘resigned’ his position as the chief security officer of his state as the current constitutional arrangement denies him the powers, manpower and resources to stem the killings in his state.

    “The bill will also address the fears of Nigerians opposed to state police. Just like the judiciary, the bill will provide for a central police service commission and also structure the state police services in ways that immune them from abuse by any governor or state. It is also a bill we can conclude in record time,” Ekweremadu added.

    The Deputy Senate President stated that the killings had continued mainly because the federating states were not constitutionally allowed to recruit, train and equip enough manpower for the security of lives and property of citizens in their states.

    He said, “Unlike here in the United States where the component states, counties, big institutions set up police service to address their local needs, the Nigerian constitution vests the security of a very vast, multifarious and highly populated country in the hands of the Federal Government.

    “The internal security of Nigeria depends on one man or woman, who sits in Abuja as the Inspector-General of Police. The governor of a state, though designated as the chief security officer of the state by the constitution, cannot direct the police commissioner of his state on security matters, the commissioner will have to clear with the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, who will clear with a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, who will also clear with the Inspector-General of Police, who may in turn need to clear with the President, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. By the time the clearance comes, if it ever does, it would have been late.

    “Nigeria is the only federal system I know, which operates a unitary or centralised policing. Ironically, it was not the case in the beginning. The founding fathers agreed on a federal constitution which allowed the component units to set up local police organisations. But it was overturned by the military and successive civilian regimes have continued to play the ostrich.”

     

  • Killings: MASSOB advocates secession, rejects establishment of state police

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said the recommendation of state police by some elites as panacea for restoring peace in the country will not work.

    The group however demanded the division of Nigeria into six different republics as a positive step to ending the tribal conflicts that lingered for long.

    MASSOB argued that with the increasing rate of killings across the country, the consideration for state police as a recipe for peace and development was a waste of time and an avoidable rigmarole.

    The National Director of Information for the movement, Sunday Okereafor said in an interview with The Punch that Nigeria’s situation was almost irredeemable, especially with the massacre experienced in some parts of the country.

    Okereafor maintained that while Biafra was ready for secession, groups like Odua, Arewa and others should be also prepared to go their different ways.

    He pointed out that rather than the continued unprovoked murder of innocent people in the country, the United Nations should intervene and support the division of Nigeria into six independent states.

    He said, “We say no to state police; what we want is Biafra and the truth is that Nigeria should be divided into six states because the security situation in the country cannot be solved with state police.

    “How can some people be talking about state police when some groups are talking about going their different ways? If you consider the recent killings in Zamfara, Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa and other areas, you will see that the solution is secession.’’

    The MASSOB spokesman expressed surprise that some Nigerians had begun to talk about 2019 election when their people were being killed by Fulani herdsmen.

    He cautioned governors in the South-East and South-South who might want to succumb to pressure to provide land for ranches or grazing fields for herdsmen, adding that such governors would face the consequences of their action.

     

  • Herdsmen/farmers clashes: Soyinka blasts Buhari, IG; backs call for establishment of state police

    …Says Buhari operating under trance

    Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Tuesday backed calls for the establishment of state police as the only effective panacea to solving the recurring herdsmen, farmers clashes that has led to unnecessary waste of lives and destruction of properties.

    The Nobel laureate also said some recent actions of President Muhammadu Buhari showed that he had been operating under a trance.

    The sooner he gets out of that trance, Soyinka said, the better for the country.

    Soyinka spoke at a press conference on the damaging consequences of marauding herdsmen on the nation.

    With the theme: “Herdsmen and Nation: Valentine Card or Valedictory Rites?” the dramatist gave an analogical tale of a state whose master’s insensitivity allows for the overbearing actions of his subjects.

    He lamented that mass destruction of farmlands in the most horrifying manner had become a norm, festering with the encouragement of the government’s body language.

    Soyinka described as appalling the position of the Inspector General of Police that the loss of lives in Benue State, and consequent increase in the number of internal refugees, was simply a communual clash.

    In his view, little will be achieved in security without state police.

    “If the IG can sit in Abuja and say of an event that is happening under the jurisdiction of a governor in another state is just a communal clash when people are being slaughtered and their villages are being occupied, it shows complete alienation. Then there is the authority of Governors who have the ultimate authority for security. It is the governor who is supposed to be the chief security officer. We are now back to authoritative voices saying indeed, state police need to be decentralised. We have been saying it and others have been saying for a long time. We are now getting back to the commonsensical issue that the nation cannot function under a single police command,” he said.

    Acknowledging, however, that the Nigerian Army has done marvelously in degrading the capacity of the Boko-Haram insurgents, the poet-activist said “it must now turn around to face another phenomenon which is considered in some international circles deadlier than the Boko-Haram”.

    According to him, the containing efforts happening now should have begun six months as he expected the force to have immediately transferred its concentration from operations, such as Python Dance and Crocodile Smile to where the heat was.

    He said the security agencies have the responsibility to look at highly-placed people in whose interest anarchy can be fostered.

    Soyinka added: “Why colonies were brought in to complicate things, I do not know. Ranches; that’s the word used everywhere. There is no organized illegal force that does not sooner or later spin up. Are these internally generated or are they being launhed by individuals who in their interest the nation must be in a state of anarchy? We sometimes talk about corruption but we don’t understand how far corruption goes. When you think of the amount being stolen in this country, enough funds illegal fund to destabilise the country. We might end up discovering that some of these people profit from ensuring there is chaos from Maiduguri to Lagos.”

    Speaking on restructuring, Soyinka said: “Sooner or later, people will recognise the fact it’s not broken record they are listening to, it’s their hearing that is impaired. In other words, we have been shouting restructuring, now its inevitability has always been stressed. The internal relationship of the units of this country be decentralised. And anytime you talk about restructuring, you hear this gibberish that the sovereignty of this country will not be compromised. Who is talking about sovereignty? We are saying the internal components of the country needed to be addressed … We must decentralise governance.”

    Asked what he would tell President Buhari if he met him, the Nobel laureate said: “I would say: Mr President, I think you are under a trance. “The sooner he gets out of it the better. So many unforced errors are going on,” he added.

    Prof. Soyinka cited Buhari’s recall of the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, after he was suspended for alleged graft by Minister of Health Isaac Adewole, as a recent example of the unforced errors that have characterised the administration.

     

  • Insecurity: Osinbajo recommends establishment of state police

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday recommended the establishment of state police as the effective solution to the current security challenges in Nigeria.

    Osinbajo said this at a summit on national security organised by the Senate.

    Osinbajo’s pronouncement on state police received spontaneous applause from participants at the summit, where Senate President Bukola Saraki said the government needed the political will to end the violence in the country.

    Osinbajo said: “We cannot realistically police a country the size of Nigeria centrally from Abuja. State police and other community policing methods are clearly the way to go.”

    He added: “The nature of our security challenges are complex and known. Securing Nigeria’s over 900,000sq km and its 180 million people requires far more men and material than we have at the moment.

    “It also requires a continuous reengineering of our security architecture and strategy. This has to be a dynamic process.

    “For a country of our size to meet the ‘one policeman to 400 persons’ prescribed by the United Nations would require triple our current police force; far more funding of the police force and far more funding of our military and other security agencies.”

    The Vice President added that Nigeria must intensify its collaboration with her neighbours in the Chad Basin by strengthening security, especially at border communities, to prevent the movement of small arms and disarming armed pastoralists and other bandits who go through the borders day after day.

    He warned that the country must avoid the danger of allowing the crisis to degenerate into religious or ethnic conflict, which, he said is the responsibility of political, religious and all other facets of the country’s leadership.

    On the upsurge of killings, Osinbajo noted that the recent incidents of killings across the country are a reminder that there is no room for complacency in the task of securing Nigeria.

    The Vice-President said: “This is against the backdrop of the remarkable improvements we have recorded on the most dreaded security challenge we had at a time – the fight against Boko Haram.

    “In 2015 when the Buhari administration came on board, much of the North Eastern Nigeria lay in the shadows of the terrorist group. In two and half years since then, our military has done a remarkable job of reclaiming Nigerian territories, rescuing tens of thousands of civilians and routing the Boko Haram. Today, the group is a shadow of itself and has resorted to suicide bombings and other attacks on soft targets in a desperate attention seeking.

    “Boko Haram was by no means the only security challenge that we inherited when we took office 2015. Cattle rustling, pronounced especially in the North West of Nigeria, clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the North Central region; militant activities in the South South and parts of the South West, ethnic agitation in the South East region; there was also the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Northern Nigeria, increasingly emboldened to challenge the authority of the state.

    “I want to say that because of the spread and because of the diversity of these threats, the nation’s security architecture was over stretched as our security became engaged on different battle fronts at the same time.”

    Osinbajo noted that in 2017, the Global Terrorism Index reported that deaths by terrorism dropped by 80 per cent in Nigeria.

    The Vice President said since the beginning of the year following the killings in Guma, Gwer and Logo local governments in Benue State, the issue of herdsmen and farmers clashes had dominated the public space.

    Every Nigerian, he said, is entitled to adequate security from the government for their livelihoods.

    His words: “Government fails in that responsibility often, but, I must say, never deliberately. Every killing diminishes us as people; every killing undermines the authority of the state. This is why the saying sometimes that because the President is Fulani he has ignored the killings by herdsmen is both untrue and unfair.

    “In any event, the herdsmen and farmer clashes resulting in deaths had been with us for at least two decades and I have been working with him for three years now and I do not know any other issue that has given him more concern or on which he has spent more time than this particular issue?

    “What then is being done. The approach of the government has been to deploy more mobile police force to flash points and also, both the Army and Air Force. The Nigeria Army units in Benue State, for example, have consistently maintained Forward Operating Bases at the flash areas in Guma, Logo, Katsina Alla and Agatu LGAs.

    “The operation has a genetic name, Operation Zenda . The Army has in the last few days scaled up its personnel and equipment in Agatu, Guma, Katsina Alla and Logo LGAs . The Army has also recently deployed troops to Awe and Tunga LGAs of Nasarawa State in order to monitor and block the gaps in areas believed to have been used as flash points by armed herdsmen to attack communities in Benue State.”

    He noted that next week as earlier been announced, the Army will flag off “Exercise Ayan Akpatuma” to checkmate the activities of armed bandits in Benue, Taraba and environs.

    In Osinbajo’s view, the security forces have performed creditably – given the resources available to them.

    The problem, he noted, is that in some of the worst cases of killings, the security agencies were simply not there in time.

    Osinbajo quoted President Buhari to have said over the Benue killings, ”I am a soldier; I have seen death in warfare but the callous killing of innocent people especially women and children is cowardly and despicable in the extreme and it must be prevented or stopped and the perpetrators must be punished.”

    He noted that in his statement of commiseration to the Governor of Benue State, President Buhari said: “This is one attack too many, and everything must be done to provide security for the people in our rural communities. I have ordered the security agencies to find and capture the perpetrators, they must face justice.”

    The Vice President said that one thread running through all of the security challenges in Nigeria is the proliferation of light arms and small weapons.

    “This age-old problem appears to have intensified in recent years on account of the fall of the Libyan Government under Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. These events unleashed large numbers of well-trained fighters, as well as the contents of Gaddafi’s armories,” he said.

    On farmers/herders clashes, Osinbajo said with the collaboration of states, and the governors of Benue, Plateau, Adamawa and along with seven other governors, working group had been constituted. He chairs the group, which has been seeking to proffer solutions to some of the problems associated with farmer/herdsmen clashes, but in particular, how to ensure that there is a plan for cattle breeding and rearing, which takes into account, contemporary methods of doing so in other parts of the world.

    He noted that also in collaboration with the States and other stakeholders, “we have been developing solutions to the issues of resource scarcity which is at the heart of the conflicts – the increasing competition for grazing land and water heightened by climate change.

    “Aside from states that have gazetted grazing areas, so far about 13 states have agreed to allocate 5,000 hectares of land for the ranching or livestock production. We must emphases that in arriving at any of these decisions in the states, the states, Federal Government and all of the stakeholders have to seat together and work out solutions that will benefit everyone. This cannot be done by fear or force, people have to work together to ensure that there is adequate consultations.

    Saraki spoke of “these attacks and reprisal attacks”, saying that they are “an intolerable cycle of hell that must be broken”. “Killings, kidnappings, mayhem and general lawlessness cannot be the new normal. We must take this country back and restore order.”

    Saraki noted that though there was no doubt that Nigerians possessed the capacity to change the narrative, to end the violence and bring succor, what is required is the political will.

    The Senate President said: “The coming together of the Executive and Legislative arms of government for this discussion about security is a pointer to the seriousness of the situation, and our determination to tackle the problem. The summit is also unique, because never before have we had such an inclusive platform for appraising security-related matters in this country.”

    ”It was envisaged that the summit would provide a platform for critically examining the problem of insecurity, to help collate views and ideas in aid of the search for solutions. It is most reassuring to see us all here – people together – coming together to come up with a national response to a grave problem confronting our nation.

    “To the Executive, I say this: you cannot do it alone – and this is why we are all here to join efforts. It is all hands on deck. No one person, organisation or arm of government can single-handedly tackle the hydra-headed monster of insecurity. The Constitution makes it clear that the safety of lives and property of citizens is the responsibility of government. We in government must therefore do everything in our power to ensure that Nigerians are safe from harm, and their livelihoods and belongings protected.

    “Permit me to observe that those who are in this room have the capacity to bring about a change in this situation, to end the violence and bring succour. We have the capacity. But, do we have the political will? I daresay political will is what is required; and it is my hope that we shall marshal it as a legitimate instrument against this problem. Indeed, there is no reason why that should not be the case. This is not a summit to trade blames – in no way is this a blame game. Neither is it convened so that any person or entity can take credit. We just want solutions. Solutions only. That is all Nigerians require of us.

    “It is expected that at the end of our deliberations and submissions, we will have a more profound understanding of the nature of the crisis; as well as a realistic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of our security assets. We should also have a more accurate assessment of challenges to the current disposition of the Nigerian state – through the level of preparedness of all its law and order agencies to security threats.”

     

  • Restructuring: El-Rufai led committee presents report, recommends establishment of state police, resource control, others

    The Governor Nasir El-Rufai led committee on restructuring on Thursday presented its report to the National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun with some recommendations aimed at making the states and local governments more independent.

    Some of the key recommendations are resource control, making local government an affair of states, constitutional amendment to allow merger of states, state police, state court of appeal and independent candidacy.

    The committee was set up in August 2017 to formulate the position of the party on restructuring which was clamoured for by most influential Nigerians.

    The committee initially had 10 members but this was later expanded to 23 members.

    According to its mandate, the committee was to distill the true intent and definition of true federalism as promised by the party during the last electioneering campaign, and to take a studied look on the report of the various national conferences, especially that of 2014; and come up with recommendations.

    Submitting the report at the party’s secretariat, Mr. El-Rufai said 8,014 people were engaged in the process of their research and that Nigerians indicated interest in 24 issues.

    Out of these 24 items, the committee made recommendation on 13 in its report, which has four volumes.

    “After four months of rigorous research, we are pleased to inform the chairman we have completed our assignment and are here to present our report. Our report is in four volumes,” the committee chairman said.

    “The report is in four volumes with Volume One containing background information of the research and recommendations; Volume Two, Action plans from the research to implement its resolution and draft of bills; Volume 3, Media reports and the result of the online survey of the issue; and Volume Four, the appendix- summary of all memoranda received.

    “I’ll like to highlight some principal recommendation by the committee. We articulated 14 issues re-occuring in previous conferences.

    “At the end of our rigorous research, debates and deliberations, we came up with 24 items that Nigerians have indicated interest views that balance our federation.

    “These items are; creation of states, merger of states, delegation principle, fiscal federalism, devolution of power and resources between state, federal and local governments, federating units, form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy ,power sharing and rotation, resource control, types of legislature, demand for affirmation for vulnerable groups;people with disabilities, women and youth, ministerial appointment, citizenship, state constitution, community participation, minimum wage, governance, judiciary, state re-alignment and border adjustment, circular status of the federation; and referendum.

    “We articulated only 13 issues from the various opinions expressed by Nigerians in our engagement, identified these 24 issues for which the committee deliberated and has made recommendations in the report.

    “We went ahead to look at these recommendations to convert them into concrete actions that the party, government and the national assembly can take to re-balance our federation.

    These items are:

    Merger of states

    “The first item that we thought needed legislative action is merger of states because creation of states is already in the Constitution; so there is a procedure, so there was no action needed.

    “However, it is appropriate to point out, Mr. Chairman, that only 36 percent of Nigerians want more states created. so majority of Nigerians don’t want creation of states.”

    “So, the first recommendation for which we have proposed a draft bill for constitution amendment is the merger of states. Though there was no consensus from stakeholders on the merger of states, we felt that we should propose a bill that allows state to merge and it is up to the party, the National Assembly and the people of Nigeria to decide on that. But we drafted a bill that is there for the party and the government to move on with.

    Delegation principle

    “The second that we have considered is the delegation principle. Here, it is recommended that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act be amended to vest the commission with the power and responsibility to periodically review the delegation formula and make proposal to the President who shall then table the said before the National Assembly for legislation.

    “We have therefore drafted a bill that will expand section six sub section one of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission act to give them that power. The bill is in Volume 2 of our report.

    Fiscal federalism

    “We also have recommendation on fiscal federalism and revenue allocation in which we propose amending section 162 and sub-section two of the Constitution; as well as amend the revenue allocation of revenue Federation Account Act to give more revenue to the states and reduce the federal government’s share of revenue.

    “This again is what we got as feedback from majority of Nigerians that the state should get more revenue and the federal government should slim down a little.

    Devolution of power

    “This recommendation, has to do with the devolution of powers. There was overwhelming popular demand for the devolution of power to the states by the federal government, and the committee recommends the same.

    “Accordingly, we have proposed that the Second Schedule of Part One and Part Two of the Constitution should be amended to transfer some items that are now on the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List that will enable both then states and the federal government to legislate on them.

    “Under devolution of power, there are items that were recommended to be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent.

    Here are the items:

    ” 10 items have been identified for the movement from the Executive List to the Concurrent List.

    – Food and Drugs

    “Food, drugs, poison, narcotics and psychotropic substances. We are proposing an amendment to the Constitution for the president to keep narcotics and psychotropic should be left on the Exclusive List while food drug and poison should be moved to Concurrent List so that state can legislate on these items in addition to the federal government. At the moment only the federal government can legislate on them.

    – Fingerprint identification of criminals

    “The second item is finger print and identification of criminal records. This is currently on the Exclusive List. The committee for feedback received from Nigerians recommendations that they should be moved to the Concurrent List.”

    -Registration of business names

    “The third item is registration of business names. Registration of business names for firms that want to operate throughout Nigeria should be done at the federal level. For small businesses that wan to work exclusively within the state, they should be registerable at the level of the state. we recommend that that should be moved to the Concurrent List as well.”

    -Labour matters

    “We have also recommended that labour matters should be moved to the Concurrent List such that the federal government and the sate can legislate on these matters. Labour, including trade unions, industrial relations, safety and well-being of labour, industrial disputes and prescribing minimal wage and industrial arbitration should be in the state. Meaning every state can determine its minimum wage.”

    – Mines and minerals.

    “The fifth item is mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological and natural gas. This should be moved to the Concurrent List. However, all offshore oil shall remain absolutely vested in the government of the federation.

    “I think it is time to take these bold steps and move away from over-centralisation.

    -The police.

    “Item six, police. We have also moved to the Concurrent List. We are recommending that police should be both federal and state.”

    -Prisons.

    “We have also recommended that prisons should be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List, where we can have federal prisons and state prisons. This will make more prisons available and reduce the burden of the federal government.”

    -Public holiday

    ” Item eight is public holiday. We want public holiday to be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List so that there will be federal public holidays and state public holidays. This is already happening unconstitutionally. This will just make the action of state governments lawful and legal and avoid confrontation from the federal government.

    -Stamp duties

    “Finally, we are recommending that stamp duties, legislation on stamp duties should be moved to the Concurrent List. The state will only legislate on stamp duties only for transactions involving individual s and business needs but not limited liabilities that are incorporated in the government of the federation.

    “We believe that if these amenddment are passed by the National Assembly, they will significantly re- balance our federation, devolve more powers to the states, reduce the burden of the federal government and make our country work better.

    “We have taken into consideration reports of all constitutional conferences and put this before Nigerians in 2017 and this is the feedback that we got, and we drafted the bill that will enable that to be passed by the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly.”

    Independent candidacy

    “The next recommendation is on independent candidacy. The committee knows that majority of respondents are opposed, surprisingly to independent candidacy. However, the committee still recommends that the party should support the demand for widening the political space by allowing for independent candidates. We believe that this will make the political party more honest.

    “We have included in the bill that no one that wants to run as an independent candidate should be a member of any political party six months to the election. We have put enough safeguards in our recommendation to ensure that independent candidacy is not a platform for opportunism.

    “We have put four safeguards. One; anybody that wants to stand for elective positions as an independent candidate, should not be a registered member of any political party at least six months before the date set for the election for which he intends to contest.

    “Number two, his nominators will not be members of any registered political party. Three; independent candidate must pay an amount to INEC in the same range as the non refundable fees payable by candidates sponsored by political parties to their parties. So instead of paying to the parties, you now pay to INEC.

    “Finally, the candidate must also meet all qualification requirements by the Constitution or any other, which is better than the independent candidate amendment.

    Local government

    “The next recommendation has to do with local government autonomy.

    There are divergent opinions on this. We recommend that the current system of local government administration as provided by the Constitution to be amended and the state be allowed to enact laws to local government that is peculiar to each of them.

    “We propose amendments to sections 7,8,162 of the First Schedule and Fourth Schedule of the Constitution to give effect to our recommendation.”

    “We are by this recognising the federal government which can only be two tiers of government. Having three tiers of government is an arbitration, there is nowhere in the world where our research has shown us there are three tiers of government.”

    Revenue allocation

    “We have also proposed amending Section One of the Allocation of Revenue Federation Act to reflect this reality. We have also proposed amendment to section 40 to the Value Added Tax Act. They are in Volume Two.

    “There is the question of what people call resource control. The committee noted the growing agitation by states to exercise control over natural resources within their respective territories and pay taxes and royalties to the federal government. If this recommendation is taken, then there will consequential amendment.

    Citizenship.

    “The issue of citizenship has been addressed by our report.’

    Ministerial appointment.

    “Arising from this is the issues of ministerial appointment. The president should have the freedom to nominate ministers from any part of the country, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    Judiciary

    “There are also recommendations on the judiciary. the National Judicial Council as the single judicial in Nigeria is operating a unitary judicial system in a federal system. So we have proposed amendment to the Constitution to create a state judicial council that will appoint an discipline judges in a state while the National Judicial Council will exercise control over the appointments, discipline of judges of the federal government only. By that, we have proposed the creation of a state court of appeal.”

    State re-alignment and boundary adjustment

    “We have proposed constitutional amendments on state re-alignment and boundary adjustment to section A sub-section 2 and A sub-section a 4 if required .”

    Referendum

    “We have a constitutional amendment to enable a referendum to be undertaken on national issues. Right now, our constitution has no provision for referendum except in the creation of states.”

    The chairman of the committee concluded by thanking the APC Chairman for properly choosing the member of the committee and also appreciating the members of the committee responsible for the recommendation.

    Mr. Oyegun who received the report, praised the committee for a job well done and promised that the report would be considered and a decision made before the middle of February.

    “Today, we have a report produced by some of the most intelligent, young Nigerians dealing with the most fundamental challenges.

    “The concept is accepted, the need for it is accepted but what exactly do we mean. are we talking on a federation based on eight zones, six zones or what?.

    “From the presentation of the chairman of this committee, everyone now has an idea of what the APC stands for when you say true federalism.”

    “It is still going to go through the mill but what I will promise you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for you hard work that you have put in for four to five months, is that this report is going to get expeditious consideration by the party.”

    “I am going to promise that before the middle of February, it would have been considered and decided upon by the various structures of the party.

    “The NEC and the Caucus of the party and whatever is there after will be presented to the authorities as the considered view and decision of the APC for appropriate implementation.”

  • Governors forum sets up committee for state police

    Governors forum sets up committee for state police

    Apparently throwing its support for the restructuring of the country, the Nigeria Governors Forum [NGF], yesterday set up a six man committee to explore the option of actualising state police in the country.

    The committee which has representatives from the six geo-Political zones of the country was mandated to come up with the best way of policing the country in view of the myriads of security challenges and its attendant lost of lives.

    This decision was reached after a closed-door meeting the governors had with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris at the Old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.

    Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Chairman of Governors Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari flanked by the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha said that its meeting was dominated by the presentation made by the Inspector General of Police.

    He also said that the IGP had sought the permission for the establishment of media outfits like radio and television for the Police Force.

    Governor Yari said, “We discussed and we received presentation from the Inspector General of Police. He made a presentation to us canvassing for the support to introduce media outfits, radio and television for the force and as well the Police to go technologically from the manual of doing things.

    “The Inspector General of Police dominated the whole day of our discussion today understanding what the issue of Police is into the system whereby in some other nations it is ten to one person but in Nigeria we have four hundred to one.

    “So, they are having so many difficulties in funding which we are agreed that with the way things are going through the budgeting process, we cannot be able to fund police.

    So, the Inspector General of Police made us to know that there is a kind of trust fund bill which is before the National Assembly, asked for our support and the members of the national assembly especially the House of Representatives.

    “In our own part, we have put a committee in place. It is headed by the governors of Kwara, Imo, Delta, Ekiti, Bauchi and Sokoto to lead the committee so that they can be able to interface with the committee of Police and take the matter before the Acting President for further action. It is important for our nation.

    “And as well there is the issue of kind of state police which is being discussed and we are coming with so many options which we are expecting the committee will do the needful and find safe way of policing in Nigeria .”

    Also speaking to journalists, the IGP said that security challenges in virtually all parts of the country was the dominant issue in the meeting, stressing that matters that border on security required a collective effort to confront. He said the essence of the meeting with the governors centered on

    “Our efforts to address some of the challenges in the Police unit. We had a fruitful discussion with them and obviously all of them are concerned about security in some parts of the country, virtually in all parts of the country. They are ready to support the Police Force to see how we can address some of the challenges.”

    On the Acting President’s charge for reinforcements in the security apparatus of the country he said “Obviously it is a normal procedure, when we have challenges we normally reinforce. “Having insecurity all over the country requires the participation of every citizen of this country. We have to put our heads together to address all the security challenges.

    “The governments are doing well, they are trying to bring communities closer and I think it takes a long time but by and large, with the cooperation of community members and all the security agencies we have met to synergies.”