Insecurity: Governors are chief security officers only by name

The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, on Monday, said state governors in the country answer the title of “Chief Security Officer” but don’t have control over security officials in their states thus making it difficult for them to tackle security challenges.

Mr Yahaya, a member of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, is also the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum. He spoke in an exclusive interview with BBC Hausa monitored by PREMIUM TIMES.

The governor stressed the need for the creation of state police in the country due to peculiar security challenges in states.

“I think the federal government needs to look at the security arrangements in the country,” Mr Yahaya said. “For example, as a state governor, if I call the police commissioner (in my state), or ask him to do something, he would say he has to inform the Inspector General of Police because that’s the only person he receives orders from. Likewise the military commander in the state. That’s what all of us (governors) go through. So, I think there is the need for us to have an overall review of how the security system works.”

Mr Yahaya’s request is not new. Many Nigerians have called for the decentralisation of Nigeria’s police and other security agencies as a way of tackling the security challenges affecting the country. Opponents, however, say such decentralised system could be used for political hatchets by governors and local government chairpersons.

In his interview, the Gomber governor said it is time for Nigeria to have state police.

“Some states wanted to create state police to have proper control of the security situation in their ways. I think it’s time to look at that request because of the situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Mr Yahaya said.

He said though many states now have vigilantes and other local task forces, governors should have control over conventional security agencies.

The Gombe governor also spoke on the efforts of the Northern Governors Forum in tackling challenges in the region.

Mr Yahaya’s complaints on Nigeria’s security archictecture is similar to that of the former Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari.

In 2018, Mr Yari announced that he has relinquished his title of “Chief Security Officer” following intense terror attacks in the state.

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Disturbed by growing insecurity, governors in South-west states created a regional security force, Amotekun, in 2020. Although the federal government initially opposed the creation, it later allowed it.

The governors said the security outfit would complement federal security agencies in the six states of the sub-region in tackling insecurity. Each state in the region controls its own Amotekun force.