Senator Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila is representing Kano South Senatorial District at the Red Chambers on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

He spoke with journalists on a number of critical national issues including insecurity, the call by Yoruba Social Cultural Group, Afenifere, on President Bola Tinubu to invoke Executive Order for the establishment of state police and the fears of the North on endorsing it. Excerpt:

Afenifere has asked President Bola Tinubu to put across an Executive Order to create state police pending when the bill before the National Assembly goes through, can the president use an Executive Order to create state police?

I am not in agreement with Afenifere’s position for President Bola Tinubu to invoke Executive Order on this very sensitive and serious constitutional matter. But I support their position that we need to do everything possible to arrest the security situation in Nigeria. The state police is a constitution issue, therefore, I think it is better for us to sit down under one roof to agree among ourselves to amend the constitution if we need to have state police. The process is very clear. If the state governors with their state Assembly and, of course, the National Assembly and the executive under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we can do it within one or two weeks. They can sponsor an executive bill to the National Assembly gazetting it for first reading, second reading, public hearing, and then we commit it to our various committees either to the constitution amendment committee or the police committee. When they bring back the report, we will consider it, approve it and then send the resolution to the state assembly for them to concur to it. Since we are practicing bicameral legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate can do it concurrently to agree on all the clauses. Therefore, even if we come into harmonisation of the whole process, it will not take us back. Definitely, I understand and I believe we can do it within two weeks without wasting time. But the main important issue is dialogue, engagement, sensitisation and public awareness. All the stakeholders are they ready to adopt state police? Secondly, if for example the Inspector General of Police, who happened to be one of the serious critical stakeholders in this business, if he can come out with his observation, we need to sit down to look into that area. There are so many people who are vehemently against state police. Therefore, we need to take all pros and cons on this issue and agree before embarking into this serious and sensitive constitutional matter. But I’m in support of everything that will return normalcy and bring security in Nigeria.

But is the executive order approach by the Afenifere something you will recommend or support?

No, I am not in support of Executive Order. Let me repeat it again. If you can remember when President Muhammadu Buhari invoked an Executive Order on local government, see how the state governments and some stakeholders are abusing the order. I think Executive Order will not work. It is constitutional and the law. We all agree that Mr President has constitutional power to invoke an Executive Order, but let us do a constitutional amendment and a proper constitutional process which will support the legislation that everybody must respect. It must involve each and everybody in Nigeria to agree on what we are doing. And in the process of sending the constitution, there is provision where the representative of the people will discuss pros and cons of the legislation.. Secondly, it would allow a public hearing where we can organize it in a way that every federal constituency and senatorial district will converge on a place to discuss the pros and cons and to hear the position of their constituents. Definitely, we can do it within two weeks, but the most important is how can we convince Nigerians and other voices like the IGP and some part of the country that are not in support of state police. What are their fears like political interference where some state governors will start using it to gain political advantage, using it for tribalism, ethnicity, religious sentiment and so many problems surrounding it. But it has so many advantages and we will derive so many things from it, but let us first sit down critically and do it once and for all. From the time Afenifere met Mr President and from the time Mr President constituted the committee to look into the issue of state police, from that time to date if we are serious and determined to have a state police, we can have it within a short period of time. What I’m saying is that we can do it in two weeks. In 2010 under President Goodluck Jonathan when he appointed Prof Jega to head the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the leadership of the National Assembly met with Mr President and, of course, INEC and the relevant stakeholders and we all agreed that we are going to amend some sections of the constitution related to election. And we did it within a short period of time and Nigeria from that 2010 started having a comprehensive, effective and efficient electoral law which led us to where we are today. If we are serious we can do it. We can suspend everything to confront the security challenges in Nigeria, but I am not in support of Mr President invoking an Executive Order. It will not work and it will bring confusion. I assure you that some people will go against it because of the nature of Nigeria.

The fear has always been that the governors will hijack it, since it is still going to be under their control, how can we navigate this fear?

God created brain for us to think and we must find a lasting solution of the impunity in the states. We must talk to them because they are human beings too. Yes, I agree with all those who are against state police citing the example of electoral commissions and the position of the local governments and the way the governors are tampering with it just to shortchange the citizens. I quite agree that we need to talk to ourselves and we must think critically out of the box to find a position where we will block from abusing and misusing the state police. I read an article by a former Inspector General of Police and he came up with so many suggestions and advice which will make the state police to be effective. But actually our main problem is state governors. Let me tell you, it is not only state police, even if we amend the constitution and have effective and efficient state police or laws which will enable us to have state police, we still have to amend some parts of the constitution to have a true federal system, a federal system that will work, a federal system that will cover everybody to operate within their locality in accordance with the culture, tradition and belief. We need to sit down and discuss because you cannot have an effective and efficient state police without having effective and efficient local government system. Even in the UK and the US, they are developing their local or community government to implement security actions of the country. See what is going on in Nigeria because our local government is incapable of attending to the needs of our localities. That is what compounded the security situation in Nigeria. We need to look into so many aspects of our system and funding is one of the critical and most important in operating Nigeria Police. For example, for those who are not in support of state police, I say that most of the logistics are coming from the state governors, funding, accommodation, day-to-day running or supporting the operational system of Nigeria Police. What the Federal Government is doing mainly is paying of salaries. It is very important for us to create an avenue where police can gather intelligence and we will have it if we have effective local government system where they will work hand in hand with traditional leaders, religious leaders and community leaders.

Do you think that we actually need state police and why and do you think that the state government has the capacity to manage state police?

Quite all right, no matter how good it is, our people are skeptical and they are not pleased with state police because of so many issues. We have some states in northern Nigeria where somebody who was born in the state, his father and his grandfather was born in that state, but they are not allowed to have an indigeneship certificate of his particular local government. We have places in northern Nigeria where there is 80 per cent control of one tribe, but they don’t have the power to appoint a local government caretaker committee in that particular local government. There is serious sentiment in northern Nigeria which most of our people are not in any way in support of Nigeria Police. We are the representative of the people, personally, I Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila, I am in support of it, but we must look into what our governors are doing with local government, state electoral commission and personalizing the government process thinking that it is their personal belonging.

Of course, there is problem of funding because most of the state governors are struggling to pay salaries. Most of the state governors are not happy with how much they are collecting from the central to run the affairs of their state. But we must fight corruption and block leakages because it is from there that we are wasting our resources. We must start thinking of people before embarking on any project or programme which will not benefit the people. Look at the state of our primary and secondary education in northern Nigeria or in Nigeria. Look at the state of our primary and secondary healthcare, therefore, as a people there is need for us to sit down and think on the current situation before embarking on this serious constitutional issue.

Do you then agree with the Inspector General of Police that Nigeria is not yet mature for state police?

Yes, I quite agree with him, but we are human beings and we can sit down and see the areas that are the problem. We must think out of the box because most of the problems are abuses and political interference in the recruitment, appointment, promotion or even the operational guidelines of the state police, which I think the IGP has a say on it. From the time you allow states to start dealing with arms and ammunition, definitely from what is going on, if a state governor can demolish the state assembly, demolish people’s houses without following due process, order arrest of opposition and deny opposition parties from holding political rallies in government property, definitely there is serious problem. And capacity which is very important, for example, in our case in the National Assembly, we have the power and we are utilizing our power to invite the Inspector General of Police and ask him questions or we can agree and disagree with Mr President on so many issues.

But the capacity of our state assembly and the way they are doing oversight is very poor. I think the state assembly cannot in any way manage the oversight constitutional responsibilities to deal with the governors. Anything the governor wants in the state assembly is a carry and go issue that must be accomplished. We have our problem in the National Assembly, but the capacity means a lot. The capacity of our judges in the state, the interference and the way the state governors are using judges to detain their opponents is very pathetic. Therefore, the IGP as the chief security officer of the land must think and I salute his courage. When I saw his position, definitely he earned my respect because it is Mr President who appointed him, he is employee of Mr President, Mr President can remove him and he knows the interest. (Sunday Sun)

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