Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, national chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), says now is the worst time for Nigeria to implement state police.
Baba-Ahmed spoke during an interview on Channels Television on Friday.
‘Wrong timing’
Baba-Ahmed said the debate over state police predates the Tinubu administration.
However, he argued that the current security situation makes this the wrong time to introduce the policy.
“The best time is not now,” he said.
“In fact, this is the worst possible time.”
Says Tinubu should fix existing security agencies
Furthermore, Baba-Ahmed said President Bola Tinubu should focus on improving the performance of existing security institutions.
He argued that the federal government still has enough powers to tackle insecurity without creating state police.
“There are still 101 things President Tinubu can do with what he has on the ground to improve our security,” he said.
“There is still the military. There is still the police.”
“He can improve policing. He can improve the performance of the military.”
‘State police won’t solve insecurity’
Meanwhile, the PRP chairman faulted the proposal to create state police as a solution to the country’s security challenges.
He said the federal police have not performed effectively, adding that creating another layer of policing could worsen the situation.
“He’s creating policemen and giving them to states,” he said.
“And then he thinks that is the solution to the problem.”
“You have the federal police that has failed to do any work.”
“So what you’re doing is saying, governors, create your own police and go and do what you want with them.”
“You’re compounding the problem that we have.”
