Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said they have no faith in the neutrality and capacity of the community policing to serve the purposes assigned to it in the Police Act, 2020.
The Governors who met on Tuesday said the newly-introduced community policing infrastructure is already being implemented more in breach.
A communique by Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum, Aminu Tambuwal, noted that Nigeria Police Act envisaged that community policing should “serve as a decentralised measure of grass roots policing and various roles were assigned to various parties, including the governors of the states.”
The Sokoto State Governor regretted that both in the constitution and operationalisation of the community policing activities in the various states, partisanship has taken over the recruitment process.
The forum called on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a consultative meeting of Nigeria Police Council to appoint an Inspector of Police whether in acting or permanent capacity as envisaged under the 1999 Constitution.
“Nigeria Police Force as an institution is a common services agency for all tiers of government in Nigeria, that is why the Nigeria Police Council is made up of President as Chairman, 36 state governors, Chairman of Police Service Commission and Inspector General of Police as members.
“The forum strongly recommended the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force and imperative introduction of the state police in Nigeria, as one of the solutions to stem the tide of insecurity ravaging the country,” Tambuwal demanded.
The forum called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill (2010).
“This is necessary in other to avoid the pitfalls that befell the amendment process in the 8th National Assembly, where Mr. President vetoed the bill on the ground among others, that the amendment came too late in the day,” the governor said.
Seven Governors attended the meeting.
