El-Rufai tells FG ‘give us State Police, Amend Constitution, Decentralise Judiciary now’

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has joined his voice with Nigerians asking for rejiggling of three issues that has been on the front burner of national discourse for over a decade now.

The governor who made this terse recommendation on Thursday on a live broadcast on a private national television said state police, amendment of the constitution and devolution of the judiciary are key to save Nigeria from the brink of collapse.

“I will dwell on three of the issues that I believe are critical to the immediate needs of the country to pull back from the brink.

“The first, it is imperative for Federal, state, and community policing. We do not have enough police. One centralised police for the country just have not worked.

“Secondly, we must amend the constitution and relevant laws to ensure control of oil and gas, mines, and minerals in the states that already have control over land under the land use Act with royalties and taxes payable to the Federal Government and the Federation Account

“Number three, we must rectify the anomaly of a Federation that has a more or less unitary judiciary,” the governor explained.

While stressing his earlier points highlighted, the governor said, “My first recommendation is to implement the three key devolution proposals that I mentioned above. Give us state police now, vest all minerals in the state now, and decentralised our judiciary now, not tomorrow, not later.”

El-Rufai also stressed that banditry is a national problem and it is the responsibility of relevant stakeholders to calm nerves through their utterances and not fan the embers of division.

“It is an understatement to say that Nigeria is in one of its most difficult moments. The genuine fears for their lives and property felt by many citizens across the country need to be assuaged. All responsible persons must show compassion to our compatriots that have been affected while calming nerves.

“Banditry is a national problem, with victims from all parts of the country, and we should address it with a common resolve,” El-Rufai said.

According to the governor, the country requires elite consensus to take the poison out of identity politics.