Former Governor opposes State Police, proposes election in choosing of INEC Chairman

Published

4 months ago

September 16, 2025

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Former Governor opposes State Police, proposes election in choosing of INEC Chairman

A former Governor of Rivers, Sir Celestine Omehia, has opposed the call for creation of State Police, saying state governors have not demonstrated the competence to handle such a responsibility.

Omehia stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, while speaking on his new book entitled “Restructuring Nigeria: The Way Forward.’’

The renowned legal luminary said he does not subscribe to state police, because it would be easily abused by the state governors who will use them to target political opponents especially during elections.

Omehia added that aside the fact that governors lack the competency to handle state Police, the approval would overburden them.

He said though countries such as America, Germany, Australia, United Kingdom and India are operating state police successfully because they work strictly on their constitutions that established them, obedience to constitution would be a problem in Nigeria.

“In every country security is truly the responsibility of the Federal Government because it has to secure first the internal affairs of the state and also to defend the boundary lines of the country.

“From my book, the security of the country should be the responsibility of the federal government. It could be overstretching to give that responsibility to the federal government alone, but I am not subscribing to state police.

“You know it already that many people who are governors don’t have open mind for the general good of the people, they have personal interest and so they use whatever is available in terms of force.

“You can see now that in Nigeria violence is one-tool in politics to win an election. If state police is created, it becomes an easy and willing tool to be used for every election by the governors to attack political opponents,” he said.

Regarding electoral reform, Omehia proposed retaining of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but insisted that its independence from the executive arm of government must be looked into.

He recommends that the national chairman of INEC should be elected through a heavily contested process, rather than being appointed by the executive, which would ensure his independence from all arms of government.

“In my book, I suggested that instead of appointment, there must be an election to bring in who becomes INEC national chairman.

“Then the other commissioners, since election will be affecting the states they must go to the province. There must be an election at the provincial level to bring in national commissioners of INEC,” he said.

He also suggested that INEC’s funding be provided for in the constitution to save the commission from relying on the executive.

“To make INEC truly independent, their funding, their finances will be contained and provided for in the constitution and must be released to them like the three arms of government.

“If they are to rely on the executive for funding, then you know the theory, he who pays the piper dictates the tone,” he said.

Omehia said that his proposals may look odd, but at the long run it would pay off for the country, while it would also be beneficiary to the people and the states.

He said that while independence of INEC would improve integrity of elections, devolution of power will give the sub-national governments more power.

“For instance, on fiscal federalism, I proposed a new revenue-sharing formula, where states will retain 50 per cent of their revenue, send the remaining 50 per cent to zonal provisional government which I proposed in the book to replace geo-political zone.

“Subsequently, the province will remit 50 per cent of the collected revenue to the federal government and retain 50 per cent.

“The remaining 50 per cent of revenue that the federal government receives would then be shared with 30 per cent for federal administration and the remaining 20 per cent to be redistributed among the states,” he said.

This according to Omehia will empower the state and the people who are closer to the states.

On what motivated him to write the book, Omehia said that the inspiration came from several demands for restructuring by stakeholders including traditional rulers, academia, journalists and others due to many defects in the governance and administration.

He also corrected the impression that restructuring was about state creation or taking Nigeria back to the regional governments system.

“To me, the issue of region has come and gone. We cannot take Nigeria back to regional system of government. States have been created and these states have made better impact on the people than the region,’’ he said.

Omehia added that state creation had also favoured minority groups who were complaining under the regional system of government.(NAN)

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JUST IN; Oyo Governor, Makinde names Olubadan as Chairman Oyo Council of Obas

Published

8 hours ago

January 15, 2026

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JUST IN; Oyo Governor, Makinde names Olubadan as Chairman Oyo Council of Obas

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has inaugurated the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, declaring that the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, will be heading the council for a period of 2 years.

The declaration follows the passing of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs (Further Amendments) Bill, 2025, by the state House of Assembly, and the signing of the same into law by the governor.

Recall that the lawmakers had amended Clause 5 of Section 28 of the Chieftaincy Law to make the Council chairmanship rotational among the Alaafin of Oyo, the Soun of Ogbomoso, and the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

While inaugurating the Council, Governor Makinde said he had consulted with the trio of the Alaafin, the Olubadan and the Soun, with the three of them reaching a consensus that the chairmanship should start with the Olubadan of Ibadanland, His Imperial Majesty Oba Rashidi Ladoja.

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NPF committed to community policing, says IGP Egbetokun

Published

9 hours ago

January 15, 2026

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NPF committed to community policing, says IGP Egbetokun

The Inspector General of Police (I-GP), Dr Kayode Egbetokun, has assured that the police remained committed to community policing to ensure that criminals were drastically reduced in the country.
The I-GP, who was represented by the Assistant Inspector of Police ( AIG) Zone 17, Dr Ajani Musibau, stated this at the Police Community Relations Committee ( PCRC) National Leadership Training and Conference on Thursday in Akure.
The theme of the conference is: “Inclusivity and Diversity: the New Leadership Paradigm.”
He said that security could not be achieved by only the police, but with the support from the community.
The I-GP stated that security was a joint work and responsibility of all, commending the current leadership of the Nigeria Police for a paradigm shift towards modern policing.
Also, the Commissioner of Police in Ondo State, Mr Adebowale Lawal, said that bandits could not infiltrate the state due to community policing strategy embraced by the command.
He explained that bandits would have infiltrated the state through Kogi and Edo, but intelligence reports from members of PCRC had been a great help to the police command.
According to him, the support and logistics received from the Inspector General of Police, Dr Kayode Egbetokun and Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa had also motivated police personnel to work earnestly.
He said that effective community policing was a sure way to curb activities of criminals, and implored members of the public not to relent in their efforts to provide police and other security agencies with useful information.
Lawal also commended other conventional security agencies, forest guards and vigilantes for their support to the police in fighting bandits
In his remarks, the National Chairman of PCRC, Alhaji Ibrahim Mogaji said that the conference was to strengthen leaders of PCRC in the South-West zone and encourage them to redouble their efforts and support in fighting crimes.
According to Mogaji, the occasion also enabled the association to appreciate Gov. Aiyedatiwa, I-GP, the AIG Zone 17 and the state Commissioner of Police.
He advised the participants to moblise other members of PCRC and orientate them on their roles to continue to fight crime in the country.
The PCRC national chairman asked Nigerians to respect the dignity of police and to be civil when interacting with them.
Mogaji said that the leadership training would be replicated in other geo-political zones of the country.
Also, Aiyedatiwa, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Security, Mr Gbenga Atiba, commended the PCRC , AIG Zone 17, and the Commissioner of Police for their unrelenting efforts to guarantee peace across the state.
Aiyedatiwa promised that the state government would give PCRC attention and continue to support police and other security agencies with appropriate logistics that would make policing more effective.
A guest lecturer, Comrade Yinka Folarin asked members of the public to give respect and dignity to members of the police, saying that they also had rights that must be respected.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that PCRC honoured Gov. Aiyedatiwa, AIG Zone 17 and the Commissioner of Police with awards. (NAN)

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Increase salary, welfare packages for Police other security personnel – FG told

Published

12 hours ago

January 15, 2026

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Increase salary, welfare packages for Police other security personnel – FG told

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for improved welfare packages for armed forces personnel and all members of the security and intelligence community to aid their effectiveness and efficiency.

National Chairman of PDP, Tanimu Turaki, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Thursday to mark the 2026 Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day.

Turaki also urged the Federal Government to adequately fund security agencies to effectively neutralise those he described as agents of insecurity, and restore peace to the country.

He expressed PDP’s condolences to the families of members of the armed forces who died in active service while executing their mandate of protecting Nigeria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“On a day like this, we acknowledge that they paid the supreme price for the continuous existence of our country.

“We advise all actors, whether state or non-state, not to engage in actions capable of destabilising the country.

“In honour of those who have died to keep our country safe, we pray that their deaths may not be in vain and their labours not forgotten,” Turaki said.(NAN)