• Raises fresh alarm over terrorism, banditry
•Akpabio vows no executive bill will die in red chamber
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has charged Senate to begin the process of amending the 1999 Constitution to make room for the establishment of state police.
Tinubu said the country must urgently restructure its security architecture to confront terrorism, banditry, and insurgency.
Speaking yesterday night at an interfaith breaking of fast with the leadership and members of Senate at State House, Abuja, the president said the time had come for the legislators to “start thinking” about embedding state policing in the constitution to enable governments at subnational levels better secure their territories.
He said, “Nigeria is extremely challenged, we are facing terrorism, banditry, insurgency, but you never failed to make a right response to these calls.
“What I will ask for tonight is for you to start thinking how best to amend the constitution to incorporate the state police for us to secure our country, take over our forests from marauders, free our children from fear.”
Few days ago, at an interfaith breaking of fast with governors at State House, Tinubu had declared that state police “can’t wait” and “will not be postponed”, urging preparations for a necessary shift in the country’s security architecture.
At Wednesday’s dinner with senators, the president framed the proposed reform as a constitutional obligation anchored on unity and shared responsibility.
According to him, ‘What you have faced in the challenging period of this country, the terrorism and banditry, is causing us havoc and we should pull together, unite in a way that our forefathers contemplated to bring about a constitutional democracy and pull us together. They didn’t say we should fight.”
Tinubu expressed deep appreciation to the lawmakers for supporting bold and necessary economic reforms.
“I have a lot of credit for bold reforms. Without your collaborations, without your inspirations, those reforms are not possible. We are reformists together,” he said.
The president defended the removal of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange reforms, describing them as steps taken to halt “monumental corruption.”
He stated, “What we gave up and what we stopped is a monumental corruption in subsidy. We gave it up. We don’t want to participate in monumental corruption, in arbitrage, foreign exchange.”
Tinubu stressed that the reforms had laid the foundation for economic stability.
He said, “You don’t have to chase me for dollars. In the past, you could see what Nigeria is today. You should be proud… What we are enjoying is stable economy, prosperity beckoning on us. We just need to work hard for it.”
On criticisms from political opponents, the president dismissed claims that he was stifling opposition voices, saying, “When they accused me of killing opposition, I didn’t have a gun… I can’t blame anybody from jumping out of a sinking ship if they did”.
He described the coincidence of Ramadan and Lent as symbolic of national unity and called for continued harmony between the executive and legislature.
“We are committed to Nigerian entity succeeding. We are committed to make law for the welfare, prosperity of the country. I think we are committed together to govern together,” he said.
President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, assured the president of the red chamber’s loyalty and continued cooperation.
Akpabio said, “We have nothing to give to you than to assure you of our loyalty. I’m sure you have noticed that nothing you have ever sent to us died in first reading, and it will never happen.”
He said the senate painstakingly reviews executive proposals to ensure they served national interest, even when they initially attracted criticism.
He said, “We sit down to painstakingly go through everything that comes before us, and then at the end, we see that it is in the interest of Nigerians, even when the social media is not seeing it.”
Akpabio commended Tinubu’s tax reforms, foreign exchange unification, fuel subsidy removal, and the recent electoral amendment, stating that the president promptly assented to the revised Electoral Act when convinced it serves national interest.
The chairman of the National Assembly expressed optimism that by 2031, Nigeria would be more prosperous under Tinubu’s leadership and offered prayers for peace amid “troubles and sponsored insecurity” in parts of the country.
The senate president also thanked Tinubu for appointing former Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as an ambassador, describing it as recognition of legislative talent.
The gathering ended with prayers for unity, wisdom and strength for the country’s leaders as they navigated security and economic challenges.
