Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu has allayed fears over the financial viability of the proposed state police, assuring Nigerians that the National Assembly is putting in place measures to ensure sustainable funding for the new policing structure.
Kalu gave the assurance on Friday while briefing journalists in Abuja after returning from a weeklong engagement at Chatham House and the London Climate Action Week in the United Kingdom.
The Deputy Speaker said legislators were already working on mechanisms to ensure that funding would not be an impediment to the successful implementation of the initiative and addressed concerns that many states may not have the financial capacity to run their own police services.
“We are looking at how to ensure that funding will not be a problem with regards to state policing because it is like taking some of the responsibility of the Federal Government for the states to handle,” he said.
He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has greatly increased allocations to states, giving them more fiscal capacity to take up more responsibilities, including policing.
Now, it is important to note that this current administration believes in federalism and has released more money to the states than ever before. So it wouldn’t be a stretch for Mr. President to say, ‘I’m already sending the states a lot of money. ‘Part of it is going to be used for this,’ said Kalu.
He said that the National Assembly was also considering other sources of funding that will ensure the sustainability of state police.
“But as Parliament, we are looking at where we can get one or two things that will help so that funding does not become an issue. He said: “We’ll sort it out in the next couple of days.”
He said the ongoing legislative recess was being used to perfect the constitutional amendment bill on state police and the members of the National Assembly were working to ensure that the legislation adequately addressed all concerns.
In fact that’s one of the reasons some of us aren’t on holiday. “Although we are on recess, we are here cracking our heads to see how we can put the bricks properly and build the wall of that legislative enactment such that it will be solid enough to carry the load that is going to be on it,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker, in answer to fears that governors might use state police for political ends, acknowledged that such fears were legitimate, but insisted that adequate safeguards had been incorporated in the proposed constitutional amendment.
The draft legislation provides clear guardrails on the powers, duties and responsibilities of state police while prescribing national minimum operational standard every state police service must meet, he explained.
“They can raise the bar for the state but they cannot go below the national minimum standard,” he said, adding that state police would not be allowed to participate in partisan activities or politically motivated operations.
He added that once the constitutional amendment process is concluded, the National Assembly would then embark on a consequential repeal and re-enactment of the Police Act to give legal framework for the operation of state police and address implementation concerns raised by stakeholders.
On the country’s security situation, the Deputy Speaker dismissed claims that insecurity was on the increase saying data at hand showed gradual improvement.
I have argued that insecurity is not deepening in our country. It’s going down. “It’s not growing,” he said.
He said the number of local government areas previously under the insurgents’ control had reduced from 17 to less than six, adding that the development was a pointer to the Federal Government’s sustained efforts to restore peace and security.
Kalu said the Tinubu administration had shown its resolve to tackle insecurity by increasing the expenditure on defence from about ₦2.1 trillion to over ₦5 trillion since it assumed office.
He said the National Assembly was pushing for having defence funding put on the first line charge to ensure timely release of funds for security operations.
He said the reforms were part of the message he delivered in his engagements at Chatham House where he sought to reassure international stakeholders of Nigeria’s improving security outlook, democratic reforms and preparations for the 2027 general elections.
