Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said the Federal and state governments remained committed to the decentralisation of policing in Nigeria.
According to a statement by the Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, the objective of the decentralisation is to improve the level of policing and security in the country.
The statement was released on Thursday night, hours after the National Economic Council (NEC) backed the Federal Government’s plan to decentralise the police.
Apart from backing the plan, the NEC set up a committee comprising state governors and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to ensure its actualisation.
Other issues discussed at the meeting include the remittance of tax by state governments, the development of Micro, Small, and Medium Enerprises (MSMEs) and an update on the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee.
Full statement from the office of the Acting President about the NEC meeting below:
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
SECURITY: FG, GOVERNORS READY TO DECENTRALISE POLICING IN NIGERIA
*There is relative calm in Benue, says Deputy Governor
Short of constitutional amendment, the Federal Government and State Governors have resolved to explore how the operations of the Nigeria Police can be decentralised in order to improve the level of policing and security in the country.
This is one of the highlights of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting today where a Committee of state governors and the Inspector-General of Police has been set up to ensure the decentralisation.
Members of the Committee include the Governors of Zamfara, Ondo, Plateau, Ebonyi, Katsina, Edo and Borno states, who will work with the IGP, Ibrahim Idris.
At the NEC meeting, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), assured that the Intelligence Community and Security Agencies will continue to sustain current efforts to mitigate the security challenges across the country.
Monguno had earlier briefed the Council on security matters.
Briefing State House correspondents, the Deputy Governor of Benue state, Mr. Benson Abounu, commended the efforts of the security agencies at mitigating the spate of insecurity in the state.
He especially thanked the security agencies for the thoroughness of Operation Whirl-Stroke, mounted by the Nigerian Army, in Benue State for their decisive operation which, according to him, has brought relative peace to the state.
Abounu, who spoke to reporters, said, “The security situation in Benue State has improved significantly. Now many Internally Displaced Persons have returned home, the State is relatively calm”.
At the NEC meeting also, presentations were made on Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax by States and MDAs by the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr. Babatunde Fowler.
Dr. Fowler informed Council that the audit of the States MDAs has commenced with respective Governors and Finance Commissioners duly notified, adding that the total outstanding VAT and Withholding debt of States’ MDAs stand at N41,047,661,213.66 for the period 2008 to 2016.