State Police: Sowore Warns Tinubu Not To Hand Armed Forces To Governors Before 2027
By: Abudu Olalekan
Human rights activist and African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has warned President Bola Tinubu’s government against embarking on the immediate creation of state police ahead of the 2027 elections, arguing that it would give the governors too much power at a time the country needs to remain focused on another volatile election year.
Speaking on Channels Television yesterday in an interview titled “Sowore on Tinubu’s State Police and Electoral Malpractice Bill”, which was carried by Reportersroom, ‘Oyebanji’ said he was not absolutely against state police as some of his party’s members argued but that the Tinubu administration should have left it to the local government, campuses, towns, and villages as decentralised policing.
“I don’t have any problem with state police. I don’t have any problem with decentralisation of security.
But decentralisation also means we go back to a full federal system,’ he noted
Sowore explained that his criticism of the Tinubu administration’s plan was not on the substance but the timing, process and personnel.
“Unless President Tinubu and his people are prepared to take Nigeria back to the federal system, it will be very, very difficult to discuss state police in Nigeria today.
Our problem is not even the concept, it’s the timing, process, and personnel,’ he said
Additionally, the former columnist argued that if state police was to be created, it had to be properly trained and regulated and that the personnel’s welfare, including reasonable salary and pension, should be put in consideration.
He noted that it would be a huge mistake to arm people and put them in government positions and neglect their welfare.
“The moment they do not get their share of the loot, they will become agents of instability. You cannot give weapons to hungry people,” he warned.
Speaking on the Tinubu administration’s proposals to amend the constitution to allow state police, Sowore said he had a problem with the timeline, saying a process that will affect Nigeria’s constitutional governance for decades should not be fast-tracked in a little more than two weeks.
“We are talking about a law that is not a law; we are talking about a constitution! Therefore, if you want to debate it in the National Assembly, give us more than two weeks. Let the people of the various states deliberate on it.
If you don’t want the governors to use this as an electoral gimmick, then the process must be transparent,” he noted
However, Sowore charged that the Tinubu government’s proposal for state police was an electoral gimmick and warned that the governors – who he considered ‘ravenous political beasts’ – should not utilise it to advance their political interests.
“We don’t want to find ourselves in the midst of elections with state police being used as a gimmick by these ravenous political beasts we call our governors,” he said.
Therefore, he suggested Tinubu’s government should postpone any discussion on state police until after the elections.
According to him, the focus should be on ensuring credible elections.
Elections, he noted, were a huge distraction.
On Tinubu’s government, Sowore said “there is absolutely nothing to talk about”, arguing that the government has performed poorly on security, power, education, health, and general economic welfare.
“There is nothing to talk about, anywhere: security, power, education, health, food, economy – this government has done nothing!
Everything is going to hell. There is so much hunger, and poverty, and the young people are being loaned to death. The health sector is in absolute disarray; even the leadership avoids our hospitals.
I don’t believe in the macroeconomic indicators. This government boasts about the Central Bank and its reforms, but how many people can report improved personal wellbeing? When you want to hoodwink Nigerians, the first thing you do is to dichotomise the economy – the macro and micro levels. Reporters should ask people whether they are better off today than they were three years ago.
Power situation is even worse.
When Tinubu announced his candidacy and platform, he promised us that if electricity does not improve within his first year in office, we should not vote for him again.
That’s not happening. We are still in darkness.
On education, I do not believe in the proposed student loans. What we need is a proper expansion of public institutions and the opening of more schools, not loans or grants,” Sowore concluded.
Olalekan A. Abudu is a seasoned and dedicated News Journalist at REPORTERS ROOM, with over eight years of experience. He specializes in politics, climate change, health, and education, while also covering security, economic, and judicial issues. Committed to accuracy and balanced reporting, Olalekan exemplifies the principles of public-interest journalism.
