Buhari rejects calls for state policing, says not an option

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected the idea of state policing in the country despite continuous calls for it to address insecurities in the nation.

The President said this in an interview with Channels TV, where he insisted that state police is not an option, stressing that attention should be paid to the relationship between local government and state Governors.

Buhari said, “State police is not an option. Find out the relationship between local government and the Governors. Are the third tier of government getting what they are supposed to get constitutionally? Are they getting it? Let the people in local government tell you the truth, the fight is between local governments and the Governor.”

The President also added that the  traditional rulers have important roles to play in ensuring security and peace in communities.

“The role of traditional rulers must not be undermined, because in their areas they know who is who, even by families, not to even talk of individuals,” he said.

This is not the first time that the President had rejected state policing despite calls from the state governors.

As far back as 2019, the President had noted that though state policing was a good initiative, the governors may be unable to pay the officers’ salaries.

However, the call for state policing has been on the high side especially following the recent incident where a police officer had publicly defied directives from Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.