- The APC chieftain said that his opposition to the establishment of State Police was due to his basic study of the shenanigans of dictatorship.
Former director-general of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, says the creation State Police will spell doom for Nigeria’s democracy.
Okechukwu, a foundation member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), explained State police will be abused and bastardised by governors who will use it to advance their inordinate ambition and nefarious goals
He made this known over the weekend while speaking on the sideline of the burial of late Chief Bona Udeh, erstwhile Chairman of Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State.
The APC chieftain said that his opposition to the establishment of State Police was due to his basic study of the shenanigans of dictatorship.
He stated that the study made him shiver each time he thought of what would happen to democracy if governors, who had since inception of the fourth republic in 1999 acted like emperors, are empowered absolutely to kill democracy.
“What salvation do we earn, when careful consideration gazetted that the majority of our dear governors are more or less akin to emperors, who are constantly in the breach of fine democratic tenets and civil liberties?” he asked.
The APC chieftain also said the governors had thwarted the local councils since the system had blatantly mangled state judiciary and state legislatures into rubber stamps.
“My dear countrymen, do we in all intents and purposes make altruistic sense to further empower emperors?
Emperors hated alternative views, abhorred popular participation and rule of law throughout the history of man.
“Our dear governors in similar manner abhorred the rule of law and popular participation; this is why they had, in the same bipartisan manner,opposed local government autonomy, independence of state judiciary and state legislatures,” he said.
Proffering security solution, Okechukwu said as a matter of urgent national importance, at this trying period, the country needed well-trained and well-equipped Special Constabulary Police in line with the Nigeria Police Act 2020.
The APC chieftain said Special Constabulary Police should be equipped with sophisticated arsenal to contain kidnappers, terrorists and insurgents at the grassroots, without authoritarian antics.
He said the Special Constabulary Police he was advocating would be funded by Federal and State Governments, jointly recruited from indigenes of the given state in collaboration with the governors, albeit local community, based on “tiny federal strings”, for necessary moderation.
“I appeal for understanding for Special Constabulary Police as the federal and state governments will better fund the outfit, rather than authorising state governors to transfer the burden of funding to our citizenry, majority of who are trapped in multidimensional poverty