Mbah Urges Financial Autonomy, Tech Backing For State Policing

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…Allays Fears Of Abuse, Says No One Would Be Gov Forever

ENUGU – Governor Peter Mbah of Enu­gu State has called for financial autonomy and investment in modern security infrastructure for state police services when created, stressing the need for any legal framework for state police to take into account the need for national standards, na­tional support, local capability and local decision-making.

Mbah made his position known during the town hall themed, ‘Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security’, organised by Arise News in Abuja on Thurs­day.

The governor emphasised that prioritising security through adequate funding for state po­lice services and investment in technology would enable those responsible for security at the subnational level to deliver the expected outcomes.

“The importance of funding the state police system effectively cannot be overemphasised. And having a State Police Service Commission that has a first-line charge on the Consolidated Rev­enue Fund is in order.

“Many other institutions in the states – the judiciary and the legislature – have the first-line charge. The key thing is provid­ing enough funding to be able to sustain the state policing sys­tem,” he said.

Sharing the Enugu State ex­perience on the importance of prioritising security, he recalled that at the inception of his ad­ministration in 2023, the state was under siege, with nightlife gone, some areas even in the state capital barricaded, Mondays gone, while many students lost an entire academic year, as they could not sit important final-year examinations due to the illegal sit-at-home orders.

“If the Enugu experience is anything to go by, we came into office recognising that we had made commitments to eradicate poverty, to grow the economy ex­ponentially, to make Enugu State the preferred destination for busi­ness, living, and investment.

“We immediately recognised that if we didn’t address the se­curity challenges, we could not achieve those objectives. There­fore, we had to invest hugely in technology, in building a Safe City Surveillance System with CCTV cameras that are AI-en­abled, as well as having both static and mobile cameras. All these come with huge costs.

“But the human element is also important, which is essen­tially why we had to set up the Distress Response Squad (DRS). As a governor, you want immedi­ate action because matters of se­curity are measured in minutes. You must be in a position where you are able to act swiftly.

“So, you must build the ca­pability to first nip crime in the bud. But where there has been a breach, you must have the capaci­ty to act swiftly. And if the Enugu experience is anything to go by, that essentially is what we did that enabled us to drive down violent crime by over 90 percent.

“Therefore, when you talk about funding, you can see that the states are already carrying quite a huge burden in terms of funding, because you are invest­ing in technology.

“We also ensured that there is a unified communication sys­tem between the agencies. Our Command and Control Centre houses all the security agencies in the state – the police, the army, and the Department of State Ser­vices. They all have a channel of communication,” he stated.

Governor Mbah also called for a constitutional provision that guarantees state police while preserving the details for an Act of the National Assembly to allow for amendments in the future without going through the rigours of constitutional amend­ment.

“So, in amending the constitu­tion, we must, by all means, make sure that it is not verbose. There should be a provision that allows us to reform the system in future, if needed, when we have tried it,” he said.

Mbah also stressed the need to focus on operational authority for state police rather than on wa­tering down the powers of gover­nors, who would be in office for a maximum of eight years only.

“By the way, there is this idea that governors are likely to abuse state police and that we should, therefore, do as much as we can to water down their powers.

“Nobody is a governor forever. We are also going to one day leave that office and become regular citizens. We just want to be sure that there is enough operational authority given to the governors so that you do not give someone a performance target without providing him or her with the control needed to achieve the re­quired outcome,” he concluded.