BREAKING NEWS: I Cannot Be Called A State Security Officer When I Have No Control Over The Police Force” – Oshiomhole

The Full Story Awaits: Click “Read Original” If You’re Reading on PHOENIX. Senator Adams Oshiomhole has argued that the current constitutional setup declaring state governors as chief security officers is a fundamental contradiction because they lack direct control over the police force. He noted that without the power to recruit, promote, or discipline police personnel, governors are essentially left powerless to enforce law and order in their domains.

Speaking during an interview, the former Edo State governor compared the situation to an empty title, emphasizing that a state cannot manage its primary security responsibilities without its own law enforcement apparatus, just as it cannot handle primary healthcare without a health ministry. He stated that the centralized policing system is no longer practical for addressing the complex security challenges facing the country.

In Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s words: “First, my view is that there is an inherent contradiction. If you look at the provisions of the constitution, the state governor is the chief security officer. What is the tool of a security force? If a state has to have responsibility for primary health care, can it do so without the ministry of health? So I cannot be a state security officer and I have no control.”

Explaining his frustration with the current structure, he added: “I can’t give orders to the police. I can’t discipline my instrument of control. I cannot promote. I cannot recruit. So it’s like calling me a husband, but I have no wife. So I think that over the ages, people have realized that the system as it is isn’t working.”