Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, have urged President Buhari to appoint a substantive Inspector-General of Police.
The governors gave the advice at the end of a virtual meeting that held to deliberate on the growing insecurity in the country.
The advice was part of the recommendations contained in a communiqué issued in Abuja yesterday.
The PDP governors also recommended that the Federal Government should decentralize the Nigeria Police Force as this would enhance its efficacy.
The communiqué was signed by Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who doubles as the Chairman PDPGF.
Part of the communiqué read, “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 council is the constitutionally designated forum for discussion of security matters in the country, particularly with respect to policing.
“It is worthy of note that the newly introduced community policing infrastructure is already being implemented more in breach. The current Nigeria Police Act envisaged that community policing should serve as a decentralized measure of grassroots policing and various roles were assigned to various parties, including the governors of the states.
“Unfortunately, in the constitution and operationalization of the community policing activities in the various states so far, partisanship has taken over the recruitment process.
“We no longer have faith in the neutrality and capacity of the community policing system to serve the purposes envisaged under the new police Act, we , therefore, call on the police authorities to sanitize the system.”
Also deliberated on at the meeting was the Electoral Act Amendment Bill pending before the National Assembly.
The governors urged federal legislators to expedite action in the passage of the bill, saying, “It 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.”
President Buhari had on February 4, 2021, approved the extension of Adamu’s tenure as the Inspector-General of Police.
Adamu was due to retire from the police on January 30, 2021, having spent a maximum 35 years in service.
But Minister of Police Affairs Mohammad Dingyadi announced an extension to the IGP’s tenure, saying the extension would be for three months.
The minister, speaking at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the extension had become necessary to give room “for the proper selection of a successor to Adamu.”
In attendance were governors, Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), and Duoye Diri (Bayelsa).
Others are Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Seyi Makinde, and Darius Ishaku of Enugu, Oyo and Taraba states, respectively.
