Governor Nasir El-Rufai

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said he and his colleagues across the  36 States of the federation are frustrated about the state of insecurity in the country.

The Governor, who spoke during a recent interview on Channels television lamented that governors lack power to tackle the different security challenges in their domains because they are not in control of the police.

He also lamented that contrary to the Police Act, the Inspector General of Police only reports to the President and not to the governors.

The Governor said: “We are all frustrated, I am frustrated in my state, many governors are frustrated in their states, we are called chief security officers in our states only in name; we have no control over coercive instruments of state. We are all frustrated. We are almost helpless.

“The #EndSARS protests clearly show we don’t have control over security. Some of us have more influence than others but to a large extent you ask the Commissioner of Police to do something, he tells you he has to clear with the IG. This is the reality. I don’t have a say on who is posted to my state as CP and if I give him directives he can decide to flout them.

“The Sultan says the North is the worst place to live. If you say you are frustrated, where then do you go? We have made representations to the President and Vice President. One of the most important steps which I have taken, I have written to the President on the fact that the Police Council should meet regularly and he has concurred.

“The constitution created a National Police Council which has the 36 state governors as members and it is that council that actually regulates the operations of the police. It should not only consider the appointment of the IG, it should meet regularly so that the operations of the police can be regulated by governors.

“Right now the council does not meet and the IG just reports to the President when in actual fact he should report to the President and the 36 of us. Secondly, there is the need to look into the disposition of the armed forces across the country and target them in the area of their greatest needs.

“In the North-West and North-East, we are dealing with banditry and Boko Haram insurgency and there is a need for sustained and coordinated bombings and ground operations to wipe out these bandits and remnants of Boko Haram insurgents.

“And it can be done, it is a matter of continuously bombings and ground operations; it is not a matter of doing it in one state and they move into another state. There is a lot operation going on, there is a lot of troops, special forces, mobile police, but it is reactive, it is not taking into account that these bandits must be wiped out at the same time in all the states once and for all.”