Former President Goodluck Jonathan recently spoke at a one-day national dialogue on state policing organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
During his address, he emphasized the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s policing system.
He asserted that the debate on whether to implement state police had been settled and that the focus should now shift to enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement operations.
“The issue today is very critical. One thing is that we don’t need to debate on whether we should have state police or not. I think the matter has been concluded. The issue is the operations of the police.
Jonathan highlighted the importance of preventing the politicization of both the police force and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“So if we are talking about State police we must also rejig INEC and the police must not be used against or to the advantage of any political party.”
“The issue of voting, the polling booths of INEC and the use of police during elections has to be reviewed by the national assembly.”
He stressed the need for reforms to ensure that the police are not manipulated for political gain during elections.
Jonathan advocated for a review of polling procedures, citing examples from other countries where polling centers are consolidated within schools and police presence is limited to perimeter security, thus reducing the likelihood of interference in the electoral process.
“Even in polling units in our country, this is the only country I visited that has isolated polling units. Most other counties I go to observe elections they have polling centres in a primary school or secondary school and within that polling centre they have five to ten polling units within the centre. I just flew back from Senegal.”
“You see the police are always at the gate. They don’t go into the compound. They don’t go even where votes are taking place. The citizens are also disciplined enough not to behave in a way that would attract the police. we must find a way to make the use of police for elections very limited. Not what we hear today that security operatives have seized materials.”
Expressing deep concern over the rampant incidents of kidnapping plaguing the nation, Jonathan criticized the current policing system as inadequate to address such security challenges.
He reiterated the necessity of establishing state police forces as a crucial measure to combat insecurity effectively.
“So the National Assembly needs to look into all these. These are the areas that we have to concentrate. The issue of the need for states to have their own police is not negotiable. There is no way we can continue this kidnapping that is going on in this country, ” Jonathan added.
Jonathan urged the National Assembly to prioritize these critical issues, emphasizing that the establishment of state police forces is non-negotiable in the face of escalating security threats, particularly kidnapping.
His call for reforms coincides with a period of heightened insecurity and mounting concerns over police misconduct and political bias.
The national dialogue on state policing serves as a crucial step towards addressing these pressing issues and devising solutions to enhance the country’s overall security landscape.
