A member of the House of Representatives from Akwa Ibom, Clement Jimbo, has said that funding would not hamper the operations of state police, as proposed by the parliament, The Sun reports.
Jimbo, who expressed hopes that the establishment of state police will help to address the security challenges in the country, said members of the National Assembly are concerned with the issues affecting the people.
The lawmaker, while speaking in an interview with journalists, in Abuja, said with improved security, farmers can confidently return to their farms. He noted that that will in turn result in food sufficiency.
He extolled moves by the House to alter the 1999 Constitution(as amended) to empower states to set up their own police force, staying that with the growing population of the country, a decentralization of the police force is imperative.
Jimbo allayed fears about the ability of states to fund state police, saying that about 20 state governments have security outfit, which they fund. Consequently, he explained that the move to alter the Constitution to create state police, is more or less putting in place a legal framework for the various security arrangements in states.
According to him, “this issue whether the state governors will be able to fund and the whole responsibilities that comes with the establishment of state policing, in 20 states, we have different formation of security outfit which is funded by state government, so how are they doing it?.
“What we are doing in 10th assembly by giving credence to state policing is simply to put a legal frame work to what is already in existence.So, Nigerians should not be afraid of anything whether they will be able to fund it . Besides every month, state governors have what we call security votes , that is were the money will be channeled to appropriately. “
