State police can only operate under supervision of Nigeria Police Force – PGF DG

Director General, Progressives Governors Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman, says state police can only operate in Nigeria, under the supervision of the Nigeria Police Force.

Lukman said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, saying the idea of amending the Constitution to enable state governments establish state police was unavoidable.

“However, there are conditions that must be met before any decision to establish state police can serve as a good response to Nigeria’s security challenges.

“This includes the requirement that processes of regulating the operations of the state police should be centralised as part of the functions of the federal police.

“Under that, for instance, issues of recruitment, qualification, background checks for those to be recruited, enforcement of disciplinary requirement, arms procurement and training for weapon handling among others, should be handled at federal level,” he said.

He said the conditions were critical to ensure uniform standards across the country.

Lukman said the situation would be like the case of universities with the National University Commission serving as the regulatory body and enforcing standards across all Nigerian universities.

He said there was also need for a new funding arrangement, once the creation of state police was considered, to ensure their effective operations.

Lukman said such funding arrangement should insulate the operations of NPF including the new state police to be established from the uncertainties surrounding public financial management.

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