Governor Godwin Obaseki has been accused of parading a falsified Bachelor’s of Art certificate.
The development is the latest in the power struggle in the state after the governor, on Thursday lost his commissioner of Information, who resigned from his position, a setback for the governor’s bid to retain power till 2024, his critics say.
His Chief of Staff had earlier resigned in April.
The Edo helmsman is currently embattled with a strong foe, Adams Oshiomhole, former governor and National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
In a bid to pour water on the power crisis between him and his former ally, the governor has recently bowed to pressure from the National Leader of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to settle the crisis in the state house of Assembly.
Appointed to broker truce in the divided Assembly are Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state, Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Senator Ehigie Uzamere.
But it does seem the opponents of his re-election bid have not given up on the plot to stop him.
Three persons, Edobor Williams, Ugbesia Abudu Godwin and Amedu Dauda Anakhu have filed a suit filed before a federal high court in Abuja, accusing the governor of forging his First Degree certificate from the University of Ibadan.
His accusers said the forgery has made him unqualified to contest the governorship election coming up in September.
According to them, the offence contravenes section 182(1)(i) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
As such Obaseki is “not qualified to run or seek the office of the governor of Edo state” in the forthcoming 2020 governorship election,” they said in the suit.
Meanwhile, Alex Ejesieme, counsel to Governor Obaseki has dismissed the allegation as false.
The governor, during the week, lost in his bid to arrest the APC chairman for corruption, after a federal court in Abuja ruled that the state government cannot arrest the former governor for corruption, based on an indictment by a judicial panel.
Professor Wole Soyinka has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for losing control to some hawk in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.
The professor was among prominent opposition leaders that backed Buhari for presidency in 25 against Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent at the time.
The presidency has recently denied this, insisting that Buhari is still in control.
A former chief of staff, Abba Kyari who died in April from COVID 19 infection was said to have wielded more power and instrumental to most government appointments made by the president.
Col. Abubakar Umar(rtd) has recently called out the president for favouring a section of the country with juicy government appointments.
While speaking on the same issue Soyinka, a Nobel laureate said the president has lost grip on power, adding that some officials in the presidency may have capitalized on this weakness to make sensitive appointments.
Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, says he does not believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is in charge of the country.
Soyinka said Col Umar’s letter was an eye opener to what is happening in the presidency.
He said “First of all, I was appalled by the silence that followed this revelation. I think those who are responsible for this criminal lopsidedness should be punished.
It is not sufficient just to discuss it. It’s criminal.”
He said the president have been shoved aside by powerful forces in the Villa who now controls the affairs of the country.
According to him “I have said this before. I don’t believe there is really anybody in charge in Aso Rock. I’m sorry to say this.
I’ve been studying the trend over the past year and a half and I believe this president is not in charge of this nation, in so many aspects and directions. I’m convinced he’s not really and totally with it.”
Soyinka, in a veiled reference to the president health said Buhari’s may have been made incapacitated as a result of this.
He said “It’s so serious. It is not the fact alone, we know the history of this. We know what it has caused the nation and we know it isn’t over yet.
And you say are launching an enquiry. That’s not enough. This man is not in charge.”
While responding to allegation that some persons in his government have hijacked power, President Buhari said he has not directed anyone to rule the country on his behalf as the President and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces.
There is outrage across Gender Equality Groups and Social Media Users following the release of Kogi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulmumini Denga, by the Nigeria Police in Abuja, over allegations of rape and assault on Elizabeth Oyeniyi, a beauty queen, three months ago.
Allegations are rife that the Police Force had released Denga due to pressure from Governor Yahaya Bello, who was obviously embarrassed by the sordid allegations of rape and assault against his Commissioner.
But the NPF has debunked the reports.
Police Headquarters spokesperson, DSP Frank Mba, debunked the reports that the commissioner was released on Tuesday due to pressure from the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello.
Oyeniyi took to her Facebook page on March 29, 2020 to accuse Danga of assault and rape.
The rape allegedly occurred after Oyeniyi in a Facebook book asked the Commissioner to extend help to his family whom she claimed were suffering after the commissioner abandoned them.
Reports revealed that Danga was not pleased with the Facebook post and ordered his boys to look for Oyeniyi and beat her up.
The lady noted that after she was attacked by the boys sent by the Commissioner, she was forced to strip naked and apologise to the commissioner.
Stressing further on the allegations levelled against the Police, Mba noted that Danga was interrogated extensively and granted bail, on Wednesday.
He added that investigation into the matter was ongoing and that further police action would be determined by the outcome of the investigation.
He said, “The Commissioner was with us yesterday (Tuesday) and he was extensively interrogated and his statement was duly obtained under caution.”
“The interrogation lasted nearly five hours and he was subsequently granted bail; the investigation is still ongoing; it is an active investigation.”
Speaking on the claim that the Commissioner was released because of pressure from the governor, Mba said, “That is purely speculative and I do not want to speak on speculation. The police are conducting an investigation and the police action will not be determined by any primordial sentiment, but will be determined by the outcome of our finding.”
Against all expectations, the Board of Governors of the Africa Development Bank, AfDB, decided, on Thursday, to institute an independent body to investigate the allegations against the Bank’s President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina.
The Governors had, until yesterday, June 5, backed Adesina, ressisting the presssure from the USA to probe him, again, after the Bank’s Ethical Committee, exonerated him of all allegations against him by Whistle blowers within the Bank’s establishment.
Adesina had, vigorously and vehemently, denied all the allegations which had all been dismissed as unfounded by the Ethical Committee, headed Takuji Yano.
But the USA just, recently, rejected the clean bill, and in an unprecedented move, demanded an independent probe.
Last week, Ex-African Presidents and Heads of Governments, rallied round by former Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo, issued a statement in support of Adesina. A couple of days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari, while receiving Adesina in the State House, assured him that Nigeria stands solidly behind him, and so did AfBD Board.
But on Thursday after a meeting, the AfDB Governors caved in to the US pressure, and decided on an independent probe of Adesina.
In a communique signed by the Chairperson of the Bank, Niale Kaba, ordering a fresh probe, the Governor’s said:
“The Bureau reiterates that it agrees that the Ethics Committee of the Boards of Directors performed its role in this matter, in accordance with the applicable rule under Resolution B/BG/2008/11 of the Board of Governors.
“The Bureau also reiterates that the Chairperson of the Bureau of the Board of Governors performed her role in accepting the findings of the Ethics Committee in accordance with the said Resolution.
“However, based on the views of some Governors on the matter, and on the need to carry every Governor along in resolving it, the Bureau agreed to authorize an independent review of the Report of the Ethics Committee of the Board of Directors relative to the allegations considered by the Ethics Committee and the submissions made by the President of the Bank Group thereto in the interest of due process.
“The independent review shall be conducted by a neutral high calibre individual with unquestionable experience, high international reputation, and intergrity within a short period of not more than two to four weeks maximum, taking the Bank Group’s electoral calendar into account.
“The Bureau agrees that within a three to six months period, and following the independent review of the Ethics Committee Report, an independent comprehensive review of the implementation of the Bank Group’s Whistle Blowing and Complaints Handling Policy should be conducted with a view to ensuring that the policy is properly implemented, and revising it where necessary, to avoid situations of this nature in the future”
Neither Adesina nor the Nigerian Government has reacted to this latest situation. But it is expected that Adesina will again be given a clean bill in a transparent process, and will be re-elected to a second term in office.
Not a few people believe that Adesina’s ordeal stems from the fact that American does not want her to get a second time in office for reasons not get explained.
By his bow tie, you know him. And that distinguishing feature was firmly in place when Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), breezed into the Presidential Villa at Abuja on June 3, 2020.
One of the hallmarks of seasoned, methodical people is patience, refusal to be rushed or stampeded. Since the alleged breach of ethics saga at the AfDB broke into the open, President Muhamadu Buhari had not said much, at least, not directly. He rather watched developments, got briefings, and weighed his options .
Like the seasoned soldier that he was, an officer and gentleman, President Buhari kept his gunpowder dry. Till he fired on Tuesday. And the echo reverberated round Africa, if not the world.
Impatient Nigerians, ever willing to excoriate, had been complaining that the President hadn’t waded directly into the AfDB matter, where one of his citizens was about to be given the shorter end of the stick, in an onslaught led by America, one of the key stakeholders of the bank. When the Ethics Committee investigated and exculpated Adesina, President Buhari hailed the development.
When America asked for reinvestigation, leaning on Adesina to step down while the process lasted, Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, and one of the Governors of AfDB, wrote a decisive letter, condemning and rejecting the decision. On whose behalf did she do that? On behalf of Nigeria, and its President. Yet the professional complainers said the President hadn’t spoken. Their usual refrain is ‘talk to us, talk to us, you must talk to us.’ And when he speaks, they pretend not to hear.
When the fullness of time came, as President Buhari usually elects to do, he spoke personally. And loud and clear.
The aviation sector in both Nigeria, and Abidjan where Adesina is based, were still under lock and key. What to do? President Buhari reached out to the Ivorien authorities for special landing permit, and despatched a presidential jet to fetch the AfDB president, an illustrious son of Nigeria, and a former Minister of Agriculture under the Goodluck Jonathan government.
Adesina and his team of two close aides were seated in the diplomatic room of the Presidential Villa fifteen clear minutes before the scheduled time. This writer was also there, along with some Ministers and senior aides of President Buhari.
Femi Adesina
On the dot of the hour (he rarely misses it), President Buhari strode in. Ramrod straight, a fact that belies his 77 years of age. He gave his guest an elbow shake from a distance, which caused us all to laugh. The President was being correct heath-wise, as demanded by the social distancing requirement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With initial greetings and courtesies concluded, Adesina was the first to talk. He thanked the President for facilitating his visit, and for the support he had always given him as AfDB boss, right from his first election in 2015.
“Thanks for helping me to get elected, and for your unflinching support for me over the years. Thanks for your public statement in my support after the Ethics Committee of the Bank finished its work, and exonerated me of all 16 allegations against me, “ Adesina began.
“I thank God who made me a Nigerian. I thank Him that I was born here, lived here, and want to die as a Nigerian. And on the day of resurrection, I will beg God to let me rise as a Nigerian.”
General laughter.
“Some lies have been concocted against me to render me ineligible for a second term as AfDB president. The bank has its rules, regulations and laws. And part of it is that any allegation must be substantiated with facts, evidence and documents. This is so that there can be believability, and nobody can act out of malice.
“In all the 16 allegations against me, there were no facts, no evidence, no document. The Ethics Committee investigated for three months. They asked for evidence. The accusers could not bring any. My defense was in 250 pages. Not a line of it was questioned.
“The laws of the bank say when the Ethics Committee has concluded investigations, the report must be transmitted to the Chairman of the Governors of the bank. It was so done, and I was exonerated of all the allegations. If I’d been found wanting, then another investigation could be launched. But since there was no charge, that should be the end of the matter, according to the rules. But the accusers want to bend the rules, asking for reinvestigation. They say they don’t trust the rules, regulations, the Governors, and the Board of the bank. Their motive is to soil me, and soil the bank.
“They are leaning on other countries that hold shares in the bank to support reinvestigation, and that I should step aside for that process. It is against the laws, rules and regulations.”
Adesina’s first term ends on August 31, this year. Election should have held by now, if not for the Coronavirus challenge. It would hold before the terminal date, and the African Union has endorsed the incumbent as the only candidate from the continent. Will the accusers muscle their way through, and get an interim administration installed?
Then President Buhari spoke. He went down memory lane, recalling the role he played as President-elect of Nigeria then, in an election that held on May 28, 2015, a day before his inauguration.
“I personally wrote all African leaders, supporting your candidature. I recommended you, though you were a Minister of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and I was of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I didn’t because of that withhold support from you. I’ll remain consistent because no one has faulted the step I took on behalf of Nigeria.”
President Buhari pledged to work with all African leaders and stakeholders of the bank to mobilize support for Adesina’s re-election. He said the man had done well, and one good term deserves another.
When people from the north of the country call President Buhari Mai Gaskiya (The Honest One), they know what they are saying. He doesn’t talk tongue-in-cheek. He says it as it is. If any fault had been found in Adesina, he would also have told him point blank that he wouldn’t get support from Nigeria. May God give us more men like the Mai Gaskiya, who don’t call white black, and vice-versa.
In a private chat with Dr Adesina later, he told me something which I would never forget, and which I’ve filed away in my memory. He said it’s a Zambian proverb, which goes thus: “When you’re walking on water, your enemies say you are kicking dust.”
Kicking dust while walking on water? Hahahahahaaaaaaa.
Bad people will always remain who and what they are. Bad.
Femi Adesina is the Special Adviser To President Muhammadu Buhari On Media & Publicity
AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the governor of Kwara state has started losing support barely a year in office as the helmsman of the Harmony state.
The APC governor was swept into power in 2019 riding under the mantra of change, thus effectively bringing to an end many years of Peoples’ Democracy Party, PDP on power.
But 13 months down the line, the Otoge(change) coalition seems to be falling apart.
On Thursday, many members of the party, predominantly from the state’s North Senatorial district, left for the PDP citing disunity among the leadership of the party.
The development came on the crest of preparation for local government election in the state.
The leader of the decampees, Hon. Manzuma Kawu Dogo, said the protracted crisis started as soon as the governor came to power more than a year ago.
The PDP chairman in the state, Kola Shittu while welcoming the decampees said the APC has scammed the people after failing in its promises to transform the state.
Shittu “We’re not surprised with the development due to unfulfilled promises of the present administration in the state.
Doors of our party are wide open just as our umbrella is big enough to house every citizen of the state.”
He said they have waited long enough for the internal wrangling among APC leaders in the state to settle, adding that he and other members decided to leave when there was no end to the crisis.
He stated that over 10,000 members from the senatorial district decided to take their destinies in their own hands by moving to the PDP.
Dogo said “we are about 10,000 in number across the 58 wards in the district.”
He explained that the infighting among the state APC leaders had dragged for too long, that the only option left is to abandon the party so as to chart a new destiny for him and his followers.
According to Dogo “Along the line, the centre cannot hold and things fall apart as a result of injustice, lack of fairness, recognition and sense of belonging to the party members.
After waiting for a year, we discovered that the truth has prevailed, necessitating our movement as against compromising our principle.
It is high time for us to maintain our clear noble principle towards bringing positive changes and betterment to our people.”
Shittu said the decampees did not leave the APC due to pecuniary gains because”As you can see there is nothing in the PDP to share now to anyone, therefore our decamping from APC to PDP is based on conviction.”
Meanwhile, watchers of the state’s politics say the governor still enjoys good support from the people of the state but that the PDP is also gaining strength ahead the 2023 general election.
In a refreshing move, bound to take many critics of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration by surprise, the President has forwarded the name of renowned Economist and citizen of the World, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as Nigeria’s candidate for the office of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO.
Buhari has always been criticized for concentrating most high profile appointments in one side of the country. But Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment is more heart-warming because she served in the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, an administration Buhari has been , since his tenure, been bent on probing, from A to Z, everything it did.
She was the Minister for Finance under the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government, and later, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, a position from where he resigned, describing it, almost, as a humiliation.
But the Jonathan government wooed her back to Nigeria, and not only reappointed as the Minister for Finance, but also the Coordinator of the Economy. Many had equated that position to that of a Prime Minister.
In 2015 when Jonathan lost to Buhari, Okonjo-Iweala went back “to the World”, and since then, has been “snapped-up”, by several important international companies and Organizations to either advise, consult or be on their board.
A couple of months ago, South Africa appointed her as a member of its Economic Team to advise the President, and shore up its Economy which is fast slipping into recession.
The election is billed to hold in Geneva next year. If she wins, she will serve for a four-year term from 2021 to 2025. She will replace the current president, Roberto Azevêdo as the seventh President of the Organisation. According to the General Council Chair David Walker of New Zealand, the nomination window begins from 8 June 2020 to 8th July 2020. Azevêdo is completing a second term.
“The Chair will inform WTO members of nominations as soon as they are received. After 8 July, Chair Walker will issue to members a consolidated list of all candidates. Shortly after the nomination period has closed, candidates will be invited to meet with members from Mexico, and at a special General Council meeting, present their views and take questions from the membership”, according to a document on the selection process.
The standard rule is for nominations to be submitted at least nine months before the election. It is done by the general council which consists of member states. nominations are usually done by home countries of nominees.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN failed to account for $3.3 billion being foreign tax collected in 2015 by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, the Nigerian Senate has alleged.
According to the red chamber, the FIRS collected $21.3 billion as foreign tax which it remitted to the CBN, which the apex bank failed to remit to the federation account.
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts revealed that the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation had queried the discrepancy in one of its report.
in an audit query revealed that while FIRS recorded $21.3 billion as total sum of foreign tax collected by it in 2015 and domiciled in the apex bank, CBN on the other hand, recorded $18billion.
On the strength of the query, the committee headed by Senator Mathew Urhoghide challenged the CBN management to explain the shortfalls which the apex bank’s Deputy Governor (Corporate Affairs), Mr. Edward Lamatek Adamu, couldn’t explain satisfactorily.
The CBN deputy governor in a move to convince the committee that the shortfall of $3.3billion was not missing or unremitted, said variations in exchange rate during the period resulted in variation of amounts recorded by FIRS and CBN.
The committee, however, ordered Adamu and other top officials of the bank to report back to it next Monday with required documents on the alleged variations in exchange rate.
Addressing journalists after the closed-door session, Uroghide said: “While the record of FIRS showed $21.3 billion, the record of CBN showed $18 billion.
“When CBN was asked about why the differences in the amount, it hinged its argument on exchange rate, upon which officials of the bank are directed to come up with supporting documents if they have.
“For instance, when the Auditor General of Federation raised an issue, we found out that FIRS said it collected $21 billion and then CBN is saying that from their own statement it is $18 billion.
“And the contention there is that CBN will say it is exchange rate, but we now asking that what was the exchange rate on their platform at that time for us to be able to know whether the $3.3 billion is in the account or whether CBN was surcharging FIRS, or whether FIRS was over estimating what they had. So we have asked them to go and come back with the documents.
“There were 13 queries raised concerning CBN. Today, they have explained some while some are yet to be sufficiently explained, particularly the $3.3billion difference from the $21.3billion foreign taxes remitted by FIRS,” the senator said.
Meanwhile, the committee will from June 9 hold a public hearing on some other highly rated government establishments like the Nigerian Army, the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) over their alleged unaudited accounts since 2015.
The public hearing, which will end on July 21, will see ministers and heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) like Foreign Affairs, Power, Aviation, Niger Delta Affairs, Petroleum Resources and National Assembly to explain to the committee why their accounts remain unaudited since December 201
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said that former Lagos State Governor and National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not get the APC Presidential ticket come 2023.
Fani-Kayode made this statement in a zoom interview he granted Monday, which he posted on his Social Media handle.
He,also gave reasons why an Igbo Presidency in 2023 will be difficult considering the people at the helm of affairs in Nigeria today.
The Cambridge alumnus said that timing does not have what it takes to rule a complex country like Nigeria.
According to the Director General of former President Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign in 2015, “the people that matter in this present government want power to remain in the zone, and come 2023 they are ready to go to any length and do everything humanly possible to achieve that”, he said.
He, however, threw another permutation, stressing that peradventure Tinubu manages to get it, the North will dump him for another candidate from the North who will fly the flag of the opposition party.
Fani-Kayode added that his predictions in politics is 8/10 correct.
On the political situation of the Igbo in Nigeria, he said that Nigerians, including him, owe the Igbo an apology and must do that.
He mentioned the ill-treatment given to the Igbo in Nigeria before, during and after the war.
According to him, the Igbo were forced to exchange any amount they had in banks, after the war, for just 20 pounds.
He recalled how their properties were looted during the civil war all in the name of abandoned properties.
He, also, mentioned how the Igbo were left behind in Nigeria until Olusegun Obasanjo came and gave prominent Igbo like Oby Ezekwesili, Dora Akunyili and Professor Chukwuma Soludo strategic appointments.
He stated that Goodluck Jonathan also continued in that line. He regretted that everything changed in 2015 when the Igbo were called 5%.
He recalled his discussions with Nnamdi Kanu when both of them were prisoners, saying that he felt Kanu’s pain on the plight of his people after listening to him.
Fani-Kayode said an Igbo Presidency in 2023 will heal the Igbo the wound of the civil war, stating that referendum should be part of Nigeria’s Constitution to allow people decide their future.
In a bid to curb crime, social vices and illict acts in the State, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has inaugurated an Operational Team for Community Policing in Lagos State.
The move by Governor Sanwo-Olu has been in the pipeline ever since the clamour by State Governors, Right Groups and other stakeholders, for the formation of State Police to complement the efforts of other security outfits in the State.
The bold step by the Lagos State Government in improving security in all communities across the State, with the inauguration of State Community Policing Advisory Committee (SCPAC) and its operations arm, State Community Policing Committee (SCPC).
The Governor inaugurated members of the two committees at a ceremony held at the State House in Alausa, pointing out that the event marked a turning point in the Government’s deliberate effort to re-strategise and rethink the security architecture using Community Policing Initiative as proposed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Muhammed Abubakar Adamu.
The security initiative, the Governor said, is long overdue, adding that the reform was being implemented with the objective to address inadequacies of the current policing model, which, he said, had failed to engage members of local communities and neighbourhoods in knowledge sharing and intelligence gathering that could help in nipping crimes in the bud.
SCPAC, which is co-chaired by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, and chairman of Council of Obas and Chiefs in Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, will be the custodian of the initiative and it is to maintain highest level of oversight on community policing in the State.
SPAC, on the other hand, will be responsible for managing and coordinating the State-level operations of the community policing programme, and it will, among other functions, help identify security threats in communities and work with the police and the Community Police Officers (CPOs) in evolving appropriate strategies for addressing them.
Sanwo-Olu said the community policing initiative was conceived and rolled out to achieve fundamental changes in the way the Government responds to security matters and make security agencies proactive in discharging their statutory duties.
He said: “Today is a particularly important and auspicious day for the good people of Lagos State. We are gathered here to take an important step in the implementation of a long overdue policing reform effort – the Community Policing Initiative.
“In a democracy, the involvement of the people in all matters of governance, especially on issues that impact directly on their well-being is key to achieving good governance. One of the inadequacies of our current policing systems has been the inability to tap the knowledge and intelligence that exists at neighbourhood and community level.
“The work that the Police are expected to do becomes more difficult when they are expected to do it alone. No matter how well-resourced or technologically advanced a Police Force might be, they might be no progress without the trust and support of the communities in which they operate. Every citizen has a role to play in ensuring that the security architecture functions optimally.”
The Governor said deploying technology and equipping the police with modern gadgets to fight crimes remained a novel idea any Government could introduce, but he added that such could not be a substitute for mutual trust and cooperation between the police and members of their host communities.
He said a citizen-centric approach to tackling crime and criminality would take a lot of pressure off the police and allow them to focus energy and resources on issues that matter most.
The community policing model, Sanwo-Olu suggested, will give every community resident a strong sense of participation in governance and strengthen the social contract between the Government and citizens. He praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his unequivocal support for fundamental security reforms in Nigeria.
He said: “We are implementing this policing initiative with sole objective of creating a platform for citizens’ participation towards improving security in our communities. We want Lagos State to be a role model for the rest of the country in terms of how community policing should function. We want to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence; one that engenders speedy resolution of issues as they arise.
“Community policing, in its ideal implementation, will take a lot of pressure off the Police Force and allow them to focus their energy and resources where it matters most. It will give citizens and residents a strong sense of participation in governance, and strengthen the social contract between the Government and the governed. A citizen-centric approach to tackling crime and criminality is a big plus for democratic practice and governance.”
The Governor charged members of the committees to discharge their tasks with patriotism, integrity and diligence, saying their membership was a “rare privilege” and an opportunity to serve Lagos and the nation.
“I urge you all to be bold and innovative in the work of developing and implementing the necessary operational guidelines and procedures that will promote and sustain mutual trust, respect and confidence between the people and security agencies, and make Lagos State a no-go area for all those who seek to undermine our security,” Sanwo-Olu said.
To further take the initiative down to neighbourhoods and draw more participation from residents at the grassroots, Sanwo-Olu said the State Government would be constituting additional committees, which will include: Area Command Community Policing Advisory Committee, Local Government Community Policing Advisory Committee, and Divisional Community Policing Committee.
The Governor also used the occasion to re-assure the all security formations in the State of his administration’s commitment to support their activities by providing equipment and resources through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) and other interventions.
Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Training at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, David Folawiyo, who represented the IGP, said the nation had reached a point where the police must interface with community members in maintaining social order.
“It is a bottom-up approach that shift focus on on reactive law enforcement to proactive problem solving,” he said.
Other members of SCPAC include: Heads of security agencies in the State, representative of Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC), Apostle Kehinde Sowemimo, representative of the Lagos Muslim Community, Sheikh Sulaiman Abou-Nolla, representative of the Lagos chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, representatives of three senatorial districts in Lagos.
Membership of SPAC includes: representative of the Commissioner of Police, DCP Etim Oqua Efiom, representative of traditional institution, Oba Momodu Ashafa, Muslim community, Bashorun Sikiru Alabi, CAN representative, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, PCRC representative, Prince Yemi Adenowo, representative of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Mrs. Blessing Abiri; representative of the Lagos chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria.
Others are Mr. Lookman Aminu; representative of people living with disabilities, Hon. Israel Akiode, representative of the Nigeria Bar Association, Prince Dele Oloke, and representative of the Lagos chapter of National Council of Women Societies, Alhaja Sikirat Agoro.
