Pascal Arogorn Ibe
GOVERNORS elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have charged President Muhammadu Buhari to without further delay, send an executive bill to the National Assembly to amend the constitution for devolution of powers to state on security.
Rising from their meeting under the PDP Governors Forum in Ibadan, Oyo State on Monday, they also resolved that in the interim, the president can summon a meeting of the police council and other stakeholders to develop ways to deal with observed threats to national unity.
The governors also threw their weights behind the southern and northern governors’ stance on restructuring, reform of government institutions as well as ranching to solve the problem of farmers/herders clashes.
These positions were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and signed by the chairman of the forum and governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal.
It affirmed that the meeting further reviewed the state of the nation, particularly, practical next steps to take to advance the conversation on the worsening security situation and collapsing economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The communiqué read, “The meeting called on Mr President as the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces to immediately send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to amend the Nigerian Constitution to devolve more powers to the states with respect to security arrangements culminating in some form of state policing and the general security architecture.
“In the interim, Mr President should summon an immediate meeting of the Nigerian Police Council, which comprises Mr President and all state governors and other critical stakeholders to evolve and implement strategies to combat the present threats to our union, especially with respect to policing.
“The meeting agreed that the Police Force still remains the appropriate institution to secure our democracy and should not be subjected to personal attacks. The welfare, training, equipment, funding of all security agencies should be given priority.
“The meeting enjoins all Nigerians to work together to achieve peace and harmony with one another, devoid of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion and other cleavages.
“The meeting re-iterated our earlier call for the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Electoral Act that will ensure a free and fair election, including provisions for electronic accreditation and electronic transmission of votes.
“The meeting thanked the host governor, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State for being a gracious and wonderful host, and congratulated him for the many landmark developmental projects he has executed, and urged him to continue to work with all stakeholders in the South West zone to ensure that PDP takes over majority of the states in the zone.”
Those who attended the meeting are governors Tambuwal (Sokoto State – Chairman), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom State), Senator Douye Diri (Bayelsa State), Samuel Ortom (Benue State), Dr Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State) and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu State). Others are Nyesom Wike (Rivers State), Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri (Adamawa State), Godwin Obaseki (Edo State), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi State) and deputy Governor of Zamfara State.
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