Dr. Ben Nwoye
A former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Dr. Ben Nwoye, has criticized the claim that governors are the Chief Security Officers of their states, describing it as mere rhetoric.
Dr. Nwoye insisted that for governors to be effective Chief Security Officers in their states, State Police should be institutionalized in Nigeria. He stated this at the weekend while speaking at the new edition of the 2025 Enugu State Security Summit held at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, organized by Comrade Ogbodo Ebubechukwu, the Director of the Inter Campus Management of NANS, Enugu State Chapter.
The politician made it clear that the 1999 constitution gave the role of policing the country, including the states, to the Federal Government, noting that the role is in the exclusive list. Nwoye, a lecturer at the Institute of Conflict and Development Studies of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), emphasised that the police take orders from the above.
He explained that even the personal security guards of the governors could be recalled if they don’t play their role well. He, however, said that the governors are only playing a supportive role to the Federal government to secure their states. There is a need for the amendment of the 1999 constitution for the inclusion of state policing so that the governors will have full powers over the police in their states, according to him.
He said, “As a few days ago, the government realized their error, we now have President Tinubu pushing for state policing, the 1999 constitution says that the job of policing this nation lies with the federal government.”
Nwoye also identified the absence of true records to be cited for the actual number of policemen or soldiers as part of the problem. He told the participants to appeal to their political representatives to push for the inclusion of state policing in the constitution.
