Senate to revisit calls for state police

President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, made this known while welcoming senators to plenary after a three-week Eid-el-Fitr recess.

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Saraki said that with the security challenges across the country, it seemed that the issues were an indication that it was time to revisit the issue of State Police.

He said that the 350 million light weapons believed to be circulating around the country, had an alarming ratio of three weapons to one person.

The senate president said the responsibility for ensuring security lay with every Nigerian.

“Issues of criminality are involved in these heinous acts, and the vigilance of community leaders and the average citizen is crucial to assist the security agencies to do their job.

“Let me use this opportunity to call for calm on all sides.

“We have called many times for unity and tolerance, and we must remind ourselves of the imperative of peace at this difficult time in our nation.

“We are resuming plenary today under a pall of national anxiety and apprehension over the state of insecurity in the country.

“We have been alarmed at so many senseless killings of Nigerians, with the high number of casualties in Plateau being among the most glaring of late,” he said.

Saraki also said that moderation was needed in speech and actions of people as responsible citizens, even in what might be deemed as provocative situations.

“We must, therefore, be careful of speech that has the potential to heat up the polity and heighten tensions.

“We implore the media also to exercise great responsibility in their reporting. Fake news can lead to dire consequences that we can ill-afford.

“Nigeria is the only country we have,” he said.

He said that internal tensions were also a reflection of the economic condition of the citizenry, and urged all stakeholders to put Economic Bills on the fast lane “in order that we may conclude them.

“This is so that we can open the door to greater opportunities for our people. Growth and development can only serve to deepen our democracy.”

On the achievements of the 8th Senate in the last three years, Saraki said “indeed, we have come a long way and have set a new bar in the legislative history of this country.

“We have passed 213 Bills in the period under review and cleared 138 Petitions, surpassing in three years, the records of the entire four-year terms of every previous Senate.

“This is no mean feat. As we hit the home run, therefore, it is important we do not back-pedal or slow down.

“We must intensify efforts towards doing all that we are sworn to do for the electorate that voted for us as their representatives.

“With the backing of Nigerians, we have been able to introduce landmark legislations that have helped boost our recovering economy.

“These include Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), which is the most significant business reform Bill in Nigeria in nearly three decades.

“As a result of the signing into law of the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act and the Credit Bureau Reporting Act, for instance, Nigeria was upgraded on the World Bank’s annual Ease-of-Doing-Business ranking.

“This has been a very welcome development for our economy and for restoring investor confidence in our business terrain.

“It was in the life of this Senate that we finally split the atom of the once intractable Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), after almost two decades in the legislative wilderness.

“We split the Bill into four manageable parts, and not only have we passed the first of those, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).

“We have started work on the remaining three, the Administrative, Fiscal and Host Communities components of the Bill and have already taken them up to public hearing stage.

“The clock is ticking and we must ensure that we conclude work on the remaining PIB Bills as soon as possible. Nigerians deserve no less,” Saraki said.

He further said that the Not-Too-Young-To-Run-Bill, which received Presidential assent on May 31, 2018, received wild jubilation around the country, due to the momentous generational shift it was expected to trigger in national leadership.

“This is in paving the way for the greater participation of youths in governance.”

ALSO READ: Gov Tambuwal renews call for state police

Saraki called on the Executive to expedite the release of funds for the 2018 Budget implementation so that Nigerians could begin to see the positive impact in their lives without delay.

“The work is not done. We as the senate must continue to exercise our oversight functions to ensure successful implementation and value for money.”

He advised that as the country inched closer to the 2019 electioneering period, senators must not lose focus.

“The divided attention of the legislature is not in the interest of the country. We must not be distracted.

“It is incumbent on us, therefore, to not allow politicking get in the way of our first duty to the Nigerian people, as senators of the Federal Republic.

“I charge us all to fasten our seatbelts and power on with the work we have been tasked to do.

“Posterity is watching, and history will vindicate us if we do the job with diligence and in truth,” the senate president said.

Saraki's statement

The Senate President also posted a state on the issue of State Police on Medium, saying:

“We have talked about the fact that whether these killings were initial acts of aggression or reprisal attacks, it is clear that either way, it is totally unacceptable and we must condemn it in all totality.

“Secondly, these are acts of criminality and we should not encourage any other colouration to it, be it religious or otherwise. This is criminality. And as such, we have a role to ensure that we must address this criminality to see how we can fight it.

“We have spoken on many platforms and made suggestions to the Executive on the fact that there is a need for an urgent review of the security architecture of the nation.

“The debate in the British House of Lords also raises this point: “How do we think this would affect our economy and investments if we continue to have this kind of security climate?” We must see this issue of insecurity not only from the point of view that there is danger and insecurity, but there is also a danger to our economy — especially if we want to grow our economy.

“We as the Senate must come up with our own actions. We do not need to flog the issue. We have told the Executive what to do. We have told them privately and we have told them publicly. However, on our own part, we must decide on what we need to do.

There are a few issues that have come up for discussion:

1. Wehave had the address from the Security Chiefs that came here on the issue of coordination to strengthen the nation’s security.

2. We have had the Report from the Senate Security Summit that we need to consider and deal with.

3. Now, we have the comments from the Deputy Senate President on the issue of State Police.

4. We have a Bill on Police reform that is due for Second Reading and passage.

5. We have the Composition of the Police Service Commission, which is listed on today’s Order Paper.

“These are things that are within our control. Let us play our own part to address the issues that we have control over.”

According to him, the Senate has also resolved to:

1. Condemn the terrorist attacks, mass killings and displacement of the people and occupation of their central homes and farmlands;

2. Urge the Executive to overhaul the security architecture of the country and to put in place a better security action plan and decisively tackle violent terror attacks threatening the continuous existence of communities in the North Central geopolitical zone and indeed Nigeria;

3. Urge the Executive arm of the government to undertake the rehabilitation of displaced persons and reconstruction of communities in Plateau North, South and Central Senatorial Districts so they can return to their homes and farmlands;

4. Urge the Executive arm of government to apprehend and persecute all perpetrators and sponsors of violence, no matter how highly placed they are;

5. Direct its constitutional review committee to put in machinery to amend the constitution to allow for the creation of State Police;

6. Fast-track the passage of the Peace and Reconciliation Bill;

7. Call on security agencies to stop involving themselves in the politics of the nation; and

8. Mandate that the Peace and Reconciliation Bill, Police Reform Bill be passed within the next two weeks and the Constitution Review Committee within the next two weeks should bring forward the amendment for State and Community Policing.