National Assembly’ll Support State Police Creation — Akpabio

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday said the National Assembly would support efforts to create state police as part of measures to strengthen security across the country.

Akpabio stated this to newsmen after leading a delegation of principal officers of the Senate on a traditional Eid-el-Kabir homage to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his Lagos residence.

The Senate President said the federal lawmakers were prepared to work with the President to develop a framework that would enable states to participate more actively in securing lives and property.

According to him, discussions were ongoing on how to establish “a positive and not a negative state police.”

“But we believe that working with him, the National Assembly can come up with a solution, a framework that will enable the states to also partake in securing the lives and properties of the citizens and that is in the area of the state police,” Akpabio said.

“And we are looking at ways of creating a positive and not a negative state police and something that can have a national state police commission that will regulate the conduct of state policing and also promotion, training and all.”

He said the proposed framework would also ensure proper regulation, training and promotion within state policing structures.

Akpabio acknowledged that insecurity remained a major challenge in parts of the country but noted that the security situation had improved under the current administration.

“We can’t do it alone. National Assembly will assist him to ensure that we improve on the area of security. But it has actually improved,” he stated.

The Senate President said organised bomb attacks and the open display of insurgent flags in parts of the country had significantly reduced.

“There is no part of Nigeria today that you have the flag of any insurgents, whether Boko Haram, being hoisted. And then all those organized bomb blasts everywhere have been brought to an end,” he said.

He, however, noted that insurgents now attack “soft targets” such as schools, churches and mosques.

“What we see now are insurgents going to areas of soft targets, going to schools, going to churches, going to mosques and those areas that nobody would think security agents would be there,” Akpabio added.

He said the National Assembly would continue to support the administration in improving security architecture across the country.

Akpabio also disclosed that lawmakers were considering an increase in funding for the Police Trust Fund from 0.5 per cent to one per cent of revenue from the production account.

“That will be for police infrastructure and equipment. Of course the states will also add their own,” he said.

The Senate President praised Tinubu’s economic reforms, saying they had helped reposition Nigeria’s economy and ended distortions inherited by the administration in 2023.

According to him, the administration met multiple exchange rates, unsustainable subsidies and excessive government spending financed through borrowing and money printing.

“He has stopped all that. We met multiple exchange rates. He has stopped all that. We met a situation of false subsidies. He has stopped all that,” Akpabio said.

He also commended the administration for ending fuel queues and harmonising taxes across the country.

“We also appreciate the fact that in the last three years, he has brought the very long queues that people used to experience in filling stations to an end,” he stated.

Akpabio further said the National Assembly would continue to support reforms that were beneficial to the country’s long-term growth.

“And I will stand by him so long as everything he proposes is positive for the future growth of this country,” he said.

The Senate President also called for increased crude oil production to support local refining and foreign exchange earnings.

He noted that the sale of crude oil in naira and the operations of the Dangote Refinery required improved crude supply and production levels.

Akpabio also highlighted infrastructure projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Lagos-Badagry-Sokoto road corridor, saying they would boost economic growth and agriculture.

According to him, the Lagos-Badagry-Sokoto road project has about 74 dams capable of revolutionising agriculture in the country.

He expressed optimism that Nigeria would witness better days with sustained reforms and cooperation among all arms of government.

“We believe strongly that God will assist him and God will assist us. So God will assist Nigeria to see better days in the future so that we can sleep with our two eyes closed,” he said.