State Police Will Be Used By Governors To Rig Elections, Persecute Political Opponents, Harass Non-Indigenes In Nigeria –Shehu Sani

 

Former federal lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has opposed the establishment of state police being proposed by the Nigerian government to scale up the fight against terrorism and insecurity in the country.

SaharaReporters reported in February that President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the 36 state governors were considering the establishment of state police to curb insecurity in the country.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had said, “The federal government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police,” adding that it was “still going to be further discussed”.

The minister described the discussion along the line as a major shift considering that the Nigerian government under previous administrations had vehemently opposed the idea of state police.

SaharaReporters also reported that former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday in his remarks during a national dialogue on state policing organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja expressed his backing for the establishment of the state police across the country.

The former President said that there is no way internal security can be managed in Nigeria without states having their police, noting that Nigerians did not need to debate whether there should be state police or not.

According to Jonathan, under whose administration, a national conference was held where state policing was the top priority, “That matter has been concluded. The issue is the operations of the police.”

However, reacting to the discussion on state policing, Senator Sani who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, said that state police cannot magically solve Nigeria’s security problems the military, the federal police and other security agencies have been unable to solve in years.

Sani said that state police would become an instrument for rigging elections, persecuting political opponents and harassing non-indigenes.

In a post on his X handle, Sani said, “State Police cannot magically solve the problem that the Military, the Federal Police and all other security agencies have been battling with.

“State Police will simply be an instrument for rigging elections, persecuting political opponents and harassing ‘non indigenes.’”