The presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has called for an overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture to ensure public officials have the authority needed to discharge their responsibilities.
Naijaonpoint reports that Makinde made the call on Friday while speaking with journalists after a closed-door meeting with his Bauchi State counterpart and APM leader in the state, Bala Mohammed, at the Government House, Bauchi.
The governor argued that the current security arrangement places responsibility on state governors without giving them adequate control over the federal agencies expected to respond to threats within their states.
Makinde said Nigeria’s security challenges would be better addressed when officials held accountable for protecting lives and property were also empowered to take operational decisions.
“We need to look at our architecture and ensure that where you give responsibility, you also give authority to deal with those responsibilities,” he said.
He pledged that an APM-led Federal Government would address the imbalance if Nigerians entrusted the party with power.
“That is exactly what we will do if Nigerians entrust the APM with the presidency. We will ensure that responsibility and authority go together,” Makinde added.
The Oyo governor also criticised what he described as the selective attribution of blame whenever major security incidents occur.
According to him, governors are often held responsible for security failures even though they exercise limited control over the police, military and other federal security agencies operating in their states.
Makinde compared the criticism directed at state governments with the public reaction to the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State.
He said, “When Chibok happened, it was the fault of President Jonathan. They went all over the world asking Jonathan to bring back the children.
“But when this happened, they said it was the irresponsibility of the state governor and the state government.”
He maintained that responsibility for tackling insecurity should be clearly defined across the different levels of government, with the necessary constitutional powers assigned to those expected to deliver results.
