We (Nigeria) are not ripe for state police Yet – President Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, declared that Nigeria was not ripe enough to operate the “State Police” system.

He said “if there is state police and the governors manipulate their state police the way they are manipulating their state electoral commissions, the instability that it will create even what we are witnessing will be a child’s play.”

President Jonathan who stated this while declaring the 52nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, open in Abuja yesterday, said he had already sought the opinion of former presidents of Nigeria who he said warned him against approving such system in view of present realities in the country.

“When I discussed the issue of state police with former presidents before a State Council meeting, they said it’s a good idea, that probably one day we’ll get there, and that is the emphasis I want to make, one day we’ll get to that point. But presently we have to be careful on how we go about it.

“Experiments have been made, there was a time when the police came up with a policy that police officers from the rank of inspector and below should be posted to their states of origin as a way of testing whether police familiar with the environment will make changes, but it was realized that when police officers from the rank of inspector down were posted to their state of origin, it was worst off to manage the situation so the police had to discontinue that policy.

“We also considered the way the governors are handling elections in their states with the state electoral commissions, where opposition parties hardly win even councillorship elections.

“So, if there is state police and the governors manipulate their state police the way they are manipulating their state electoral commissions, the instability that it will create even what we are witnessing will be a child’s play.”

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