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State Police Creation & Matters Arising
The present security challenges and morbid corruption in our Police clearly pt to urgent need to reform policing architecture in Nigeria. We can no longer ignore this reality that it has failed; it’s long overdue.
In creating State Police, we must address the clear risk of abuse by the Executive, by ensuring that Governors do not control the State Police.
Police in each state should not report to the guv, but should report to Office of Attorney-General, which must be made independent of the Executive, and funded from 1st-line charge, just like the judiciary.
Above means we need to 1st decouple Office of AG from Justice Ministry, at both State & Federal levels, as present combined office is occupied by a political appointee of the Executive which often uses it to witch-hunt opposition and ignore atrocities by govt officials. See attachment for different mandates of AG & Justice Ministry.
In addition to the above, additional measures should be adopted:
1⃣ The HoA, not Guv, should have powers to appoint or remove the CP as well as the AG, just like position of Chief Judge, though with a slight modification.
2⃣ A state Police Service Commission should be established in each state, with tenured members appointed by HoA following recommendations by the Executive, who cannot subsequently remove them.
3⃣ A joint panel of Heads of Judiciary, Justice Ministry, and PSC should screen & recommend 3 top candidates for CP job, which Executive can propose to HoA to vote on.
4⃣ Present Zonal Police Commands should be scrapped. In lieu, the remainder of the present Federal Police should be kept to act like FBI in the USA with branches in the regions to support inter-state ops.
5⃣ In case of FCT Police, Senate will play the role of Parliament that will approve. The present HoR is too crowded and characterized by uneven representation of the states.
6⃣ AG Office to which CP reports should deploy judicial officers to each Police Unit (stations, area, and state commands) to support police ops and reduce illegal detentions & extrajudicial activities.
7⃣ Office of AG should supervise electoral and anti-crime agencies. Most anti-crime agencies in Nigeria, esp. EFCC, readily turn blind eye to corruption by govt officials linked to the ruling party and, are thus, not truly independent. On the electoral side, most elections conducted by State Independent Electoral Commissions are shams.
8⃣ Tenures of heads of bureaus reporting to the AG (CP, EFCC, etc.) as well as the AG role itself should have tenure of say 6-8yrs, so that they can outlast the political regimes of both Executive & Parliament.
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