You’re bias, partisan, Kwankwaso tells Police

[Mirror]

Governor Rabi'u Kwankwaso of Kano State has advocated for the creation of State Police in the country, alleging that the present "Nigeria Police Force is biased and only protecting the interest of those in the villa".

The governor, a member of the G7 group and the new Peoples Democratic Party faction, said, "Before last week's saga where a DPO (Divisional Police Officer) came and asked us to disperse from the legitimate meeting we were holding at the Kano Government Lodge, Abuja, I was opposing the creation of the state police; but now, I have to rethink as this has exhibited the immaturity and lopsidedness among the Nigeria Police Force."

Receiving the Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Chief Igwue Paulinus Nwagu to Government House, Kano yesterday, Governor Kwankwaso maintained that what happened in the lodge was an insult not only to them but the entire people of Kano state.

"I am not advising the police to pitch their tent with any side, but they should be seen as neutral because politics is not a permanent and pensionable game," Governor Kwankwaso said, adding, "the Nigerian Police Force has involved in the national politics".

He said that the police involvement in politics would not augur well for the national unity, alleging that the force has now lost integrity in the eyes of many Nigerians.

Kwankwaso also explained that even though the Federal Government was taking a larger share of the total national revenue, state governments were the major financiers of the Nigeria Police Force in their respective states, adding that "government is now spending hundreds of billion naira in funding the Joint Task Force (JTF) since their establishment", and that Kano was now safe and peaceful. Governor Kwankwaso then appealed to the Federal Government to equip the police with modern facilities so as to cope with current challenges at hand in the country.

In his remarks, Senqator Igwue Paulinus Nwagu said that they were in the state to inspect all the facilities of the police on ground and have a firsthand information about the condition of the Nigeria Police. He said that the visit would give them an inside achievements in the sector and find out the challenges and proper solutions.