Magodo Face-off: South West Govs Spit Fire, Adegboruwa Speaks

By James Orji

The six governors of the south west have condemned the manner a police officer disrespected the Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, the chairman of the South West Governors Forum said the police officer who said he acted on the order of the IGP and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami disrespected Governor Sanwo-olu who is the chief security officer of the state.

Sanwo-Olu had while on a visit to the troubled Magogo ordered a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP and his men deployed by the IGP to vacate the Magodo Phase 2 Estate area, describing their presence as intrusion.

The police officer rebuffed the governor saying he was acting on the order of the two federal officers.

But in a statement signed in Akure, the Ondo state’s capital by Akeredolu he described the development as unacceptable to the governors, adding that such can lead to chaos. The governors said Malami and IGP must explain their role in the the intrusion.

The statement reads “We are in possession of a video which has gone viral on the social media concerning the disgraceful exchange between a police officer, a CSP, and the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, the supposed Chief Security Officer of the State, at the Magodo Residential Estate.

“The content of the video is very disconcerting, and this is being charitable. The utter disrespect, which underlines the response of the officer to the Governor establishes, beyond doubt, the impracticability of the current system, dubiously christened “Federalism”.

“An arrangement, which compels the Governor of a State to seek clarifications on security issues in his jurisdiction from totally extraneous bodies or persons, is a sure recipe for anarchy.

“We condemn, very strongly, this brazen assault on decency. We call on the IG to explain the justification for this intrusion.”

Any interaction among federating units must be done with utmost professionality and respect the governors said, adding that federal security agencies have become laws unto themselves. This situation will no longer be tolerated, the governors said, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to rein in his appointees.

“This is not acceptable. Any expectations of rapprochement between so-called federating units and federal security agencies are becoming forlorn, progressively, due to deliberate acts which mock our very avowal to ethics and professionalism. We condemn, in very clear terms, the role of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami SAN in this act of gross moral turpitude.

“We, on our part, will continue to interrogate the current system, which treats elected representatives of the people as mere prefects, while appointed office holders ride roughshod over them as Lords of the Manor.

“If the purported Chief Security Officers of the States of the Federation require clearance from the office of the IG on matters within their areas of jurisdictions, only hypocrites will wonder why the current security crisis deepens and there appears to be no solution in the foreseeable future.

“We condemn very strongly, this brazen assault on decency. We call on the IG to explain the justification for this intrusion.

” This is not acceptable. Any expectations of rapprochement between so called federating units and federal security agencies are becoming forlorn, progressively, due to deliberate acts which mock our very avowal to ethics and professionalism.

“We stand by our brother, the Governor of Lagos State. We advise him to deploy the Regional security outfit in the State to protect the lives and property of the people.

“We call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to rein in the excesses of certain elements bent on acting in a manner capable of eroding the bond of trust existing between the people and the Federal Government.

” It is preposterous for political appointees to seek to undermine the very structure of service upon which their appointments rest.

Meanwhile, Ebun Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN says the only way out of the struggle between federal and state authorities is for the Constitution to be amended to reflect Nigeria as a true federal state.