Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has urged the federal government to stop deceiving Nigerians over the proposed creation of state police, insisting that states can establish their own policing structures through legislation.
Governor Makinde spoke on Thursday during the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly primaries of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) held at the Watershed Celebration Centre, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
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Addressing party members and delegates at the event, the governor reflected on the establishment of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, across the South-west, describing the outfit as a fallback option after efforts to establish state police failed.
According to him, the regional security outfit was created by South-west states through laws passed by their respective Houses of Assembly, a process he said could also be adopted for establishing state police.
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“Some people will know insecurity was one of the major pillars of this administration when we established Omitutun phase one and phase two, and it will remain a major pillar. Before this government’s emergence, there was nothing like Amotekun in Oyo State. We wanted state police. It was because we couldn’t get the state police that we established Amotekun as a stopgap. They should stop wasting Nigerians’ time,” he said.
Governor Makinde argued that states do not need to wait for directives from the Nigeria Police Force before creating state policing structures.
“We know how we established Amotekun. The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly is here. We passed a common law in the whole of the Southwest. The whole Houses of Assembly in all states in the Southwest passed the law, and that led to the creation of Amotekun.
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“The only state that didn’t create Amotekun is Lagos State, and we know it is because their boss didn’t want Amotekun,” he said.
The governor further said state assemblies should be empowered to establish state police through legislation.
“At this stage, they should stop deceiving us. If they want to establish state police, don’t ask the Inspector General of Police to create it for us. Our state assembly will create it. Give them the authority and support, and within the shortest possible time, State Police will come to be,” he added.
Governor Makinde’s comments came days after President Bola Tinubu renewed his support for state police while accepting the APC presidential ticket for the 2027 election.
He said the creation of state police has become a national emergency, urging the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to allow its creation.
Mr Tinubu clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket for the 2027 election after emerging victorious in the party’s presidential primary held across Nigeria on 24 May.
He made the state police remark in his acceptance speech on 25 May, as he formally accepted the APC presidential ticket shortly after receiving the party’s certificate of return and flag in the aftermath of his overwhelming victory at the party’s presidential primary election.
State police
President Tinubu in February 2024 backed calls for the creation of state police following consultations with governors and the National Economic Council (NEC) over worsening insecurity across the country.
The NEC subsequently directed states to submit positions and recommendations on how the proposed policing structure would operate, while discussions continued on a legal and constitutional framework for its implementation.
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Makinde-backed PDP adopts Jonathan as sole presidential candidate
Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had repeatedly expressed reservations about state police, with federal officials and members of the ruling party warning that governors could misuse such security outfits against political opponents and suppress dissent.
Governor Makinde, however, argued that state governments should independently establish state police through laws passed by their Houses of Assembly, rather than waiting for directives from the federal government or the Inspector-General of Police.
He cited the creation of the South-west Amotekun Corps through coordinated legislation by state assemblies in the region as evidence that states already have the capacity to drive decentralised policing structures.
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