Some governors take up to N3bn as security vote but give police N20m – Tinubu’s aide
PhenomenalApr 21, 2025Read original
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has said that some state governors take as much as N3bn as security vote but give security forces as low as N20m each monthly.
He, on Monday, blamed the governors for the rising cases of killings nationwide, especially the recent incidents in Plateau, Benue and Enugu states.
He said, “For example, a governor who gets more than N2bn to N3bn as security vote can decide to take only N1bn to buy equipment such as drones, vehicles and everything that is needed to do surveillance and fight security.
“That governor can give adequate infrastructure to help federal agents in their states…because crime in Nigeria is so dynamic; we’re hearing that the criminal elements even use drones. How can undemocratic elements use a sophisticated system of surveillance that the state does not have?”
Bwala stated this when he appeared on TVC’s Beyond the Headlines show with Nifemi Oguntoye on Monday.
He said, “What we are finding, very sadly, is that there are some states where the governors give N20m to the SSS, N20m to the police, and N20m to the Army as monthly allocation for fighting insecurity. And you hear their security vote is between N1bn, N2bn and N3bn. Where are we going?”
His remarks came after recent weeks of gory episodes as gunmen killed at least 120 villagers in Plateau’s Bokkos and Bassa LGAs on April 14, displacing nearly 2,000 people and drawing condemnation from Amnesty International, which described the attacks as an “inexcusable security failure.”
Police in Benue confirmed 56 deaths in Logo and Gbagir last weekend, while four farmers were murdered in Enugu’s Adani community on 10 April.
Rights groups say more than 1,300 Plateau residents have been slain since December 2023.
Consequently, pressure has grown for legislation allowing states to run their own police outfits.
But Bwala argued that the clamour only masks weak local governance in the states.
He maintained that the bloodshed could be curbed “within the laws and resources they (governors) already control,” if the state executives quit tokenism and fund the federal agencies in their domain.
Bwala explained, “There are people who still believe, within the present framework of the security architecture of the state, that we can deal with insecurity if we understand what it takes to do that.
“What does it take to do that? In every state, for example, there are the SSS, police, military, and paramilitary. Then, every state has the right to also create a quasi-paramilitary outfit and get the support of the government to deal with legal issues.