By Meletus EZE
The Presidency will not oppose the National Assembly on its ongoing efforts to make provision for the creation of state police in the country as a way of tackling the nation’s security challenges.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this in an interview on Saturday.Shehu was asked if the Presidency was on the same page with the National Assembly on the issue of state police.
The presidential spokesman said Vice-President YemiOsinbajo had spoken publicly on the matter.
He explained that Osinbajo’s position remained the position of the Presidency on the matter because he was qualified to speak for the Presidency.
He said: “The Vice President has spoken on the issue of state police. Since the VP has spoken, who in the Presidency will counter him?
“Except if it is the President who does not agree with him, otherwise, the Vice President can speak for the Presidency of this country.
“Nobody can counter what the VP has said. We stand by him and what he has said. We can’t deny or disown him.
“Again, he probably might have reviewed and discussed it with the President before he spoke.”
Osinbajo had, in a keynote address he delivered at the third anniversary of the 8th Assembly of the Lagos State House of Assembly recently, said state police remained the surest way of tackling current security challenges like herdsmen and farmers clashes in parts of the country.
He said it was no longer practicable to police a country as big as Nigeria from Abuja.
