Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has expressed doubt about the feasibility of implementing the recently proposed state police system in Nigeria.
Ndume, representing Borno State, voiced concerns that state police forces could be susceptible to misuse by governors.
In an interview with ChannelsTV on Wednesday evening, Ndume highlighted the existing challenge in Nigeria, where the population significantly outweighs the number of security personnel.
He urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to reconsider the deployment of police escorts assigned to politicians and other Very Important Persons (VIPs).
According to Ndume, Nigeria requires approximately two million policemen and 500 soldiers to adequately cater to its population.
“I won’t vote for state police if it comes up in the constitution amendment process because it would be abused by governors,” Ndume said.
“I support that they should take away all their police (officer). One Senator will be going around with 10 policemen, seven, members of House of Reps, everybody. That is for those who are mobile. Some even give security to their wives, others give security to their children. I am against that.”
He urged Bola Tinubu to give security agencies a blank cheque, give them all they want in terms of funding and weapons to fight the menace of banditry, kidnapping and insurgency.
Ndume said tinubu should empower the police to increase their manpower to two million men and the military to 500 thousand.
“Let’s have like two million policemen and 500 thousand soldiers,” he said.
