You Can’t Call Governors Security Chiefs without Giving Power to Safeguard their States— Oshiomhole

Senator Adams Oshiomhole has renewed his support for the establishment of state police, arguing that governors cannot be held responsible for security in their states while lacking the authority to direct the police.

Speaking on Thursday at the ARISE News Town Hall on State Police, the senator representing Edo North said the present arrangement creates a constitutional contradiction by designating governors as chief security officers without giving them operational control over law enforcement.

“There is an inherent contradiction,” Oshiomhole said. “The Constitution calls the governor the chief security officer, yet he cannot recruit, deploy, promote or discipline police officers. It is like calling someone a husband when he has no wife.”

The former Edo State governor rejected the view that the country’s security challenges are solely the result of inadequate funding and logistics.

According to him, decentralising policing is essential if state governments are to discharge their security responsibilities effectively.

He also dismissed concerns that states may be unable to finance their own police forces, insisting that budgetary allocations reflect governmental priorities.

“Nobody funds what they do not believe in. Where we put money reflects our values and priorities,” he stated.

Drawing on his tenure in Edo State, Oshiomhole recalled that successive administrations spent heavily on vehicles, communication equipment and other support for the police, despite having no authority over how such resources were used.

He lamented that governors lack the legal power to sanction officers who misuse or neglect state-provided assets.

Addressing fears that state police could be used for political persecution, the senator maintained that abuse already occurs under the centrally controlled system.

“If a governor mistakes state police for his personal police and misuses them, then vote him out at the next election,” he said, adding that the media also has a duty to expose misconduct.

Oshiomhole cited instances from his time as governor when decisions taken by police authorities in Edo were overturned from Abuja.

He further recounted frustrations arising from conflicting reports by security agencies and an occasion when a police commissioner declined to brief him after a major fire incident, despite his position as governor.

He argued that if governors are to remain constitutionally designated as chief security officers, they must be given the means to carry out that role.

“Unless the Constitution is amended to remove that provision, governors must be given the instruments to perform the responsibility,” he said.

The lawmaker added that Nigeria’s federal structure should be reflected in its policing system, noting that countries such as the United States operate both federal and state police forces.

He further pointed to the existence of agencies like the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as evidence that a single police force cannot meet all security needs.

Concluding his remarks, Oshiomhole said state police would make it clear who should be held accountable for security failures.

“If people are under attack, the governor should be able to deploy his men. If he fails, the electorate will know whom to hold responsible,” he said, describing the current national conversation on state policing as both timely and necessary.