Governor Uba Sani: “State Police Won’t Be Abused If the Law Is Done Right”

 

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has said Nigerians don’t need to fear that state governors will abuse the proposed state police system—as long as the law guiding it is clearly written to block any political manipulation.

Speaking during an interview on TVC, after a meeting between the Northern States Governors’ Forum and the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council, Sani explained that if proper legal safeguards are put in place, state police will focus only on fighting crime, not politics.

Right now, there’s a push to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow each state to create its own police force. This means moving “police” from the exclusive legislative list (which only the federal government controls) to the concurrent list (which both federal and state governments can act on).

While some Nigerians support the idea, saying it would boost local security, others are worried. They fear that governors might use state police to attack political enemies or silence critics.

But Governor Sani strongly disagrees. He believes the key lies in how the law is written.

“There cannot be any abuse if this law is crafted in such a way that won’t allow governors to abuse it,” he said. “The crafters of that bill can make it clear that the only focus should be on criminalities not on political issues. Let’s relegate the issue of politics and address insecurity.”

He also pointed out that security is the foundation for development. Without peace, he said, there’s no way states can improve things like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.

“The issue of security is very important when we are talking about healthcare, education, and infrastructure. They cannot be possible when there is insecurity. Don’t talk about naira and kobo when we are talking about saving the lives of our people. Let’s leave the issues of funding. We must fund it,” he said.

Governor Sani added that in many states, insecurity has already stopped key development projects. That’s why he believes a more local and responsive security system is urgently needed.