Seriake Dickson, national leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has backed the position of Peter Obi, his party’s presidential candidate, on state police.
Dickson spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Sunday, where he addressed issues relating to national security and fresh legal challenges facing the party.
On Wednesday, the senate passed a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police across the country.
In a statement on Friday, Obi described the passage of the bill by the national assembly as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s search for solutions to insecurity, noting that many Nigerians had long advocated for the decentralisation of policing.
He, however, said the implementation of state policing should be deferred until after the 2027 general election.
He warned that the proposed security structure could be vulnerable to political manipulation if introduced without adequate safeguards.
According to Obi, his greatest concern was not the operational framework of state police but the possibility that governors could deploy the institution against political opponents.
Dickson said he supports the creation of state police but disagrees with the pace at which the reform is being pursued.
“Peter Obi is right and that is also my view,” the lawmaker said.
“We can start the process. The president has started a good thing by introducing the reform. I encouraged him to do it, even though I disagree with the speed with which it is going. We need to slow it down a little bit.”
The NDC leader said the country’s immediate priority should be tackling insecurity and ensuring conditions are in place for credible elections.
“Every national attention and resource now should be focused on fighting terrorism and insecurity and creating the environment to enable us to have an election,” he said.
“The business of implementing the reform should be left for the next government.”
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