Constitution Review: South-west governors canvass state police, true federalism

Three South-west governors have called on the National Assembly to ensure the creation of state police and the implementation of true federalism through the ongoing constitutional review exercise.

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Governors Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), and Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti) made the call on Friday during the South-west Centre B Public Hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review held in Akure, Ondo State capital.

Mr Aiyedatiwa, in his submission, stressed the need to decentralise the nation’s policing system, saying the current centralised structure was no longer sustainable in the face of worsening insecurity.

He highlighted the effectiveness of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, in combating crime at the grassroots and reiterated the need to legalise state police through constitutional amendment.

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“Ondo State aligns with the progressive aspirations of the South-west geo-political zone in advocating for true federalism that reflects socio-political, cultural and economic realities of the federating units,” Mr Aiyedatiwa said.

“This would be in tandem with true fiscal federalism, where states have full control over their resources and revenues, while remitting about 40 per cent of their revenues to the federal government.

“Still on fiscal federalism, it will serve the cause of fairness and justice to have a review of the current revenue allocation formula, which is skewed in favour of the federal government.

“Ondo State is of the opinion that not less than 50 per cent of revenue from the federation should be allocated to the states.”

Mr Aiyedatiwa also advocated the amendment of Section 44(3) of the Constitution to move control over mineral resources from the Exclusive-Legislative List to the Concurrent List.

He argued that this would empower states to regulate and benefit from their natural resources while curbing illegal mining.

He said, “It is an understatement that state governments and the people experience a lot of agonies from the activities of miners, including illegal miners, quarries and others that engage in mineral exploration activities. This is because state governments have little or no control over this sector.

“It hinders state governments, especially oil-rich states, from harnessing their mineral wealth for local development, while illegal mining continues to flourish due to weak federal government oversight and poor local enforcement mechanisms.”

Mr Aiyedatiwa further said the state is not opposed to the creation of new states as requested in some of the proposed bills, but strongly opposes excising any part of its territory to merge with any new state or join an existing one.

Besides agreeing on the submissions for state police and true federalism, Mr Adeleke also called for electoral reforms.

Represented by his deputy, Kola Adewusi, the Osun governor called for the adoption of electronic voting and reducing the cost of conducting elections.

“The cost of governance and elections is too high. We must reduce it and make political offices less attractive to curb the ‘do-or-die’ mentality,” hei stated.

READ ALSO: Constitution Review: Kaduna governor roots for state police, fiscal federalism, gender equity

For his part, Mr Oyebanji canvassed the decentralisation of mineral resource control through the amendment of Section 44(3).

The Ekiti governor, who was represented by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata, said the constitution should be amended to remove control over minerals, mineral oils, and natural gas from the Exclusive Legislative List and take them to the Concurrent Legislative List.

Earlier, the Chairman of the House Committee for South-west Centre B, James Faleke, assured that all position papers and public inputs would be thoroughly considered in line with the wishes of Nigerians.

Other stakeholders, including traditional rulers, labour unions, and paramilitary organisations, also made presentations during the hearing.