Speakers of 36 State Assembly on Thursday endorsed the establishment of state police to tackle insecurity in the country.
The Speakers under the aegis of Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, in a communique at the end of their meeting in Abuja, called on the National Assembly to include the proposal for state police among bills it will consider in the ongoing constitution amendment processes.
The communique which was signed by Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria Adebo Ogundoyi assumed that it would approve the Bill if presented for amendment in the ongoing constitutional review.
The speakers also called on President Bola Tinubu to take further measures to mitigate the current hardship by Nigerians following the removal of fuel subsidy and other economic policies
The communique reads in part: “The Conference strongly advocates for state policing to check the negative trend of insecurity in our country.
“To achieve this, the Conference appeals to the National Assembly, Presidency and other relevant stakeholders to leverage on the ongoing constitution review exercise.”
The Conference of Speakers acknowledged the “courage of the President on his economic policies taken so far such as the removal of Petroleum product subsidy and the floating of the exchange rate.”
They noted that “the unintended consequences of these policies are too harsh on the populace.”
They added: “We therefore, urge the Federal Government and State Governments to initiate sustainable policies with equal measure of courage to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
“The Conference observed that in spite of the constitutional provisions that grant Financial Autonomy to the State Legislature, the implementation has been observed in breach.
“We therefore, call on all the relevant stakeholders to comply with all the provisions in the Constitution and not by breach.”
