State Police: Hope is Here, Says Deputy Speaker, Kalu
…As Reps Vote Thursday
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, PhD, CFR has assured Nigerians that the long-awaited legislative framework for state police is within reach, with the House set to vote on the constitutional amendment on Thursday.
Briefing Parliamentary Correspondents after Wednesday’s plenary session on the nation’s security challenges, Kalu stressed that securing lives and property is not the responsibility of the executive alone, but a duty that binds all the three arms of government.
He underscored the need to deploy legislative instruments to close existing gaps in the country’s security architecture.
The Deputy Speaker further explained that lawmakers had come to the conclusion that leaving the law unchanged would not meet the expectations Nigerians have placed in government to resolve insecurity.
The House, he said, had therefore resolved to prioritise the unbundling of security response challenges through legislation, with state policing at the core of that effort.
Flanked by the 36 Caucus Leaders of the House, including the FCT, as well as regional and zonal leaders during the briefing, Kalu declared that Parliament was moving decisively.
The Deputy Speaker informed that consensus has already been reached among key stakeholders.
He however noted that the 1999 Constitution as currently framed, particularly Section 214, would not allow the establishment of state police without consequential amendments.
He said: “We’re here today to have an interaction with you with regards to what has been happening in the country, especially as it concerns security related issues.
“The question has always been that when we say that security of lives and property is the primary purpose of government, is it only the executive that that particular section refers to? Does it concern the three arms of government?
“There is a need for us to use legislative tools to block the problems. These men here are the real Leaders of the House of Representatives who have been working night and day.
“When I say night and day, I mean literally night and day, to ensure that we add our support to what the executive is doing in the efforts to secure lives and properties in Nigeria. And we have discovered that leaving the law as it is will not give us that expectation that all Nigerians have placed in the expectation basket with regards to curing the issue of insecurity.
“Therefore, we have decided to prioritise the issue of unbundling security response time through the legislative tool for State Police. The structure which has been agreed to by the IGP and his team. National consensus has also been reached on it.
“The executive has bought into it. Governors have bought into it that there is need for state police and the constitution as it is, if allowed, especially Section 214, without consequential amendments in that particular Constitution, would not birth the state police that will guarantee what we will be looking for in the space of security.
“These gentlemen here have been working hard to amend the constitution and to prioritize state police, especially now that we are faced with these difficulties around the country.
“So we are here to announce to Nigerians that hope is coming; that hope to have a better response time to incidents of crime is here; that we have decided by tomorrow, we’ll be voting on the constitution and we’ll be prioritizing state police”.
Kalu also dismissed speculations that attempts were being made to stall the process.
He expressed confidence that the amendment would receive swift concurrence at the sub-national level, citing the body language of the 36 state governors as supportive of state police.
Once passed by the National Assembly, the bill would be transmitted to the states and, thereafter, to the President for assent.
Kalu called on members currently on oversight functions across the country to suspend their assignments and return to Abuja for the assignment.
“We’ve read a lot of things on the news that people are trying to stop it. No, the Parliament is marching forward and by tomorrow we’ll be concluding on this. This is what we have come to inform you that hope is here and by tomorrow, state police will make it in our constitutional amendment.
“We are hoping that by the time we finish tomorrow, it will be going to the states. And because we have seen the body language of the governors of these 36 states, which is in support of state police, they will work hand in hand with their Houses of Assembly to ensure that it is returned to Mr. President for his assent as quickly as possible.
“We are also using this opportunity to invite our members who are currently handling oversight functions across Nigeria to cut it short and fly in. It is an emergency situation. They should cut it short and fly in tomorrow.
“We want all our members to be in the House so that we’ll show our constituents that we are in support of State police and that security is priority on our list”, Kalu said.
