The Chairman of the Ecological Fund, and former Chairman, House Committee on National Intelligence and Security, Honourable Aminu Jaji, has said the new executive state police bill contains constitutional safeguards to prevent abuse and ensure accountability, adding that the proposed legislation is designed to address concerns over the misuse of state police while strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture.
He said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday.
“The issue of state police brings about a lot of controversy in the country. There is a constitutional safeguard built into the bill. The constitutional safeguard in the bill is to address the issue of abusing the state police by either the governors or whoever matters, and looking at the court and the media output that was inserted in the bill. So, it is another way that people will feel comfortable and safe that this bill will go a long way in addressing the issues, instead of creating problems for society,” he said.
Honourable Jaji said the proposed legislation draws from India’s state policing model but includes safeguards from the outset to prevent its misuse.
He explained that key provisions in Clauses 5, 8, 12 and 13 are intended to ensure state police cannot be used as political tools by governors, while also addressing issues such as appointments, tenure and federal intervention where there is a breakdown of law and order.
“If you look at the way the bill is, it is like a copycat from what the Indians are doing. The only difference we have between the Indian version of the bill is that from the onset, this bill is trying to address issues where if anybody wanted to use that bill or state police in their own favor, already there is a safeguard so it cannot be achieved. That is the reason why there are about four or five clauses: Clause 5, 8, 12, and 13.
“All these clauses are where people are trying to look at what those clauses are trying to address. In these issues, people are looking to be comfortable in the sense that this policy of establishing state police should be an issue that can address the general issue, not an issue that can be a sideline program or policy that can only address issues where state police can be turned into political tools for the governors of the day,” he explained.
Speaking on recent US counterterrorism actions in Nigeria, Honourable Jaji said some viewed the intervention as an “ephemeral decision,” arguing that counterterrorism operations require intelligence fusion and a coordinated security framework to effectively address terrorism.
“That is to show that the US intervention in security operations in the country—some consider it as an ephemeral decision simply because within a short period of time, without taking so many things into cognizance, because in security operations, there are so many things to be put into place, particularly when it is aligned with terrorism. If you want to counter it, there must be an intelligence fusion. So, if you don’t have an intelligence fusion, you cannot do it the way it is,” he said.
Commenting further on the issue of state police, the intelligence and security expert said it should not be seen as a silver bullet to Nigeria’s security challenges, stressing that effective policing must be anchored on community policing, traditional institutions and inclusive recruitment. He also warned that failing to address ethnic and religious considerations in the recruitment of state police personnel could create new security and governance challenges.
“Honestly, I don’t see state police as something supreme in addressing the issue of insecurity in the country. Going by the empirical ways of addressing issues, the whole idea of community policing starts with the formal police and informal police. In those days, the empirical method in addressing issues of insecurity started from community policing. That is why in each community, there is what we call community diagnosis in security architecture. It is only when that community policing is integrated into the main aspect of addressing the issue of insecurity, because there are many steps—informal means, formal means, and objective means in addressing the issue.
“Now, on the issue of state police, there are two things. If you are going to recruit many people or absorb people as personnel to the state police in all the states, in any state you have to address two things: the issue of ethnicity and the religious issue. That is our main problem. So, if you fail to address that one, then the state police will be a problem to whichever state that has a mix of ethnic groups or religious differences,” he warned.
On his recommendations for the proposed state police framework, Honourable Jaji stressed the need for strong constitutional safeguards, uniform operational standards and effective oversight to prevent abuse.
“Well, my recommendation—those clauses are too important for safeguarding the issue of state police for you, for me, and even for the government of the day, to feel free. Because if you are in charge of that place today, you should know that tomorrow you are not going to be there. If you fail to address the issue that will have a constitutional safeguard to ensure that the state police is for general interest, so that it can be used today and you can continue to use it even after you exit from the office, then there is something that all of us have to think and set right,’ he stressed.
Explaining why the proposed legislation draws from India’s policing model, Honourable Jaji said Nigeria and India face similar security challenges, including kidnapping, making aspects of the Indian framework relevant.
However, he noted that India’s state police system has endured because of strong checks and balances, adding that recent provisions strengthening the roles of the courts and the media have further enhanced accountability.
“The trajectory and the phenomenon is almost similar with the Indian issues and that of our country, Nigeria. India has issues of kidnapping and so many things like that. Even though we have a different system of government with them, most of the clauses were directly copied from India.
“As it is today, India is one of the countries operating a state police system, and it works because of the checks and balances they have. It was only when they started about 70 years ago, there were things they didn’t add until recently when they added the issue of court and media. That gives supremacy to the court and media to do more if there is any fallout in any state police, then they will key in, and instantly there was no intervention from anybody,” he noted.
Addressing concerns over funding and regional disparities in implementing state police, Honourable Jaji said the proposed framework provides for uniform national standards alongside federal support.
He added that the arrangement amounts to a form of “reasonable restructuring” focused on protecting lives and property while accommodating the unique security challenges across the country’s regions.
“That is why they bring about the uniform standard. If there are uniform standards, then things will go very easily. That is why the federal government has set aside, going by the bill, 0.5% as a counterpart contribution to each state.
“There is what we call reasonable restructuring. Indirectly, it is like we are trying to do a reasonable restructuring. Reasonable restructuring is the essential need of every citizen: protection of life and property going by the Constitution. By so doing, it is like we are addressing this issue looking at all the peculiarities in each zone. The uniform standard is there, and the percentage contribution supposed to come from the federal government is already there. I think this will go a long way in trying to create an issue instead of fundamental restructuring.”
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