Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, says police have failed Nigerians in the fight against insecurity in the country.
Akeredolu said the failure of the Federal Government to address the security challenges bewildering the country would soon lead to a situation where the citizens arm themselves in self-defence, adding that the police operatives were overwhelmed.
The governor said these while delivering the keynote address at the meeting of the Attorney-Generals of the 36 States of Nigeria held in Lagos on Thursday.
Akeredolu, who is the Chairman of Southern Governors Forum said the police should “close shop” if the Federal Government could not meet their equipment needs.
“We will carry arms very soon, Oga Malami (the AGF), there is no other way, the police have failed,” he said.
The governor, who had earlier called for a one-minute silence in honour of the 40 victims of the Owo terror attack, further argued that the mass killings, kidnappings and other serious security failures around the country had shown that a central police command was ineffective to keep Nigerians safe.
Akeredolu said: “The current spate of insecurity in the country leaves us with no room for equivocation on the right of the states to maintain law and order through the establishment of State Police.
“The growing distrust in the polity is a direct result of the disconnect between the federal government and the constituent units of the country. The economic adversity, currently experienced in the country, points directly at the defective political structure.
“A unitary system cannot work, successfully, in a country like Nigeria.
“The 1999 Constitution has been amended twice. There is another promise of further amendments arising from the manifest irregularity in many provisions.
“This has compelled many lawyers and educated citizens to insist on having a new Constitution which will reflect the agitations of the various groups which make up the country. The law is becoming increasingly less certain under these circumstances.
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“The crises created by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, have been unending. There have been agitations that the Exclusive Legislative List in this Constitution is limited to Nigeria’s external trade, customs duties, export duties, tax on incomes, profits and capital gains, interstate commerce, external borrowing, mining rents and royalties from mineral resources, among others.
“The Federal Government has, consistently, rejected this suggestion, presumably, because of the humongous 52% revenue allocation to it while the 36 States and the 774 Local Governments share the remaining 48%,” Governor Akeredolu stated.
Responding, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said governors cannot continue agitation for restructuring and state police when they are responsible for the compromise and mismanagement of the current system.
Malami said the state governors who have taken over the allocations of local government in their states have no moral right to ask for restructuring.
The AGF stressed that the Nigerian system is not working due to the attitudes of the citizens, adding that the country will continue to have crises until Nigerians allow the system to function.
“State police will not work because state governors would abuse it, look at the way they treat local government, imagine what will happen if they control the police,” he added.
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