Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has stated that the National Assembly had started working on a decentralised police force that would not be subject to abuse by the political class.
Bamidele, who is also the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, added that the parliament ‘is committed to drafting a framework for a decentralised police model that will serve the interests of all regardless of their status’.
His assertion is contained in a statement by him yesterday to celebrate the life of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at 74. He commended the diverse initiatives he had promoted to secure and stabilise Nigeria.
He noted that following the security challenges confronting the Federation, key stakeholders had pushed for a decentralised police model that would reflect the country’s federal character as a measure to effectively protect lives and property across the Federation.
Bamidele said that due to President Tinubu’s open support for a decentralised model, the Nigeria Police had submitted a 75-page comprehensive framework to the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, for legislative consideration.
The Senate Leader commended Tinubu for building synergy with the National Assembly to arrest the spate of insecurity in the country, noting that the President had been looking beyond traditional approaches to address the roots of extremism, terrorism and armed attacks.
Bamidele observed that President Tinubu had already lent his voice to the creation of a decentralised police model as part of measures to ensure the security of lives, private property and public installations across the Federation.
According to him, the essence of the model is to devolve policing powers to the sub-national authorities with a view to ensuring effective governance even in the remotest part of our land.
The senate leader added that the new police framework under consideration would incorporate accountability mechanisms that would prevent the abuse of power by the political class; reinforce justice administration, discourage the culture of impunity and set guardrails for the preservation of fundamental human rights.
He said: ‘All these initiatives are at the core of shared conviction, which the Presidency and National Assembly have been working on to secure Nigeria better’. Bamidele assured Nigerians that the framework would be anchored to accountability mechanisms and global best practices.
At 74, Bamidele celebrated key achievements of President Tinubu in public space, claiming that he had sufficiently demonstrated his allegiance, love and sacrifice for the collective prosperity of Nigerians.
