State police: Why Tinubu should slow down – Dickson

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National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Seriake Dickson, has commended the move by president Bola Tinubu on the creation of state police.

Speaking during an interview on ‘Sunday Politics’, a programme on Channels Television, Dickson, however, said the president should slow down the process of state police creation.

According to him, attention should be focused on fighting terrorism and insecurity, adding that the business of implementing state police should be left for the next government.

“President Tinubu should slow down the process of state police creation.

“I commend the move to decentralise policing, but we should also decentralise mineral rights. That’s what we call resource control.

“The president has done this (state police), and it has my support, but my prescription would have been to decentralise it to the zonal levels first.

“Then, we amend the constitution to give governors power to appoint the commissioners of police working with the Police Service Commission, PSC, and then putting them to the Houses of Assembly for screening and oversight,” he said.

The NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had also said that he is suspicious of the timing of state police.

“You can’t amend the constitution and give powers to the governors when there’s an upcoming election,” Obi had said.