‘State Police Will Enable Governors To Build Militias’ – Dogara

A former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said that some Governors will abuse state police if the Federal Government approves it.

Naija News reports that the issue of state police has been a social discussion for some time now, with some governors and regional socio-political groups like Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo saying it would curb the menacing trend of kidnapping, banditry, and sundry crimes.

However, Dogara, while featuring on Channels TV programme on Friday, Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, described the call for state police as laughable, noting that some Governors are mismanaging state-controlled electoral commissions to have their way during local government elections.

According to him, Governors will build militias, and the opposition will not be allowed to breathe if governors are empowered with state police.

Dogara also said some governors can’t pay the salaries of civil servants in their states, and empowering them with state police could further endanger the lives of the people in their states as hungry operatives could use their rifles to cause mayhem.

He said, “Look at this country, what is it that has been outsourced to a state that has been properly managed?

“Look at how the state electoral commissions have turned out to be. If I were a governor and I wanted to be a pretentious democrat, I can even say three, four, or five local governments are less consequential to me; let me cede them to oppositions but when they (governors) run these elections, the ruling parties take 100% of the local government chairmen seat.

“If we have state police, what will play out is that we will be giving a hangman the free man to hang, we will enable state governors to build militias.

“They control 100% state assemblies, they control 100% magistrates, area court justices and even the state high court. So, when you now reinforce that or strengthen that with the state police, you are making them a judge in their own case, which even runs counter to the principle of democracy. What will happen is that if you disagree with your governor, you dare not go home. The state police then becomes a militia used to rig elections by the sitting governors.

“Our democracy has not reached that maturity. Democracy cannot survive in an atmosphere of intimidation, where you cannot tolerate opposition.”