The South-West Governors’ Forum, on Monday, reiterated their call for the establishment of state police to address the worrying insecurity in the country.
The declaration was made during a meeting of the six governors of the southwestern states held at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja, where the governors also introduced a regional anthem.
At the meeting, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State was also elected as the new Chairman of the Forum, succeeding the late Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
In attendance at the meeting were governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), Lucky Aiyedatiwa (Ondo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), and Sanwo-Olu.
On security, the Forum commended “the relative peace in the South-West region” and emphasised collaboration between all security agencies and the Amotekun Corps. “It reaffirms its full support for State Police,” a communique issued at the end of the meeting said.
The PUNCH reports that in May, the Lagos State House of Assembly kicked against the position of the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, that Nigeria was not ripe for the establishment of state police.
The Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, directed the Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, to write the IG and the National Assembly, stating that the state lawmakers rejected Egbetokun’s position, and affirmed their support for state police.
The communique further stated, “The Forum unanimously nominated and adopted the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as its Chairman.
“The governors adopted ‘Ise wa fun ile wa’ as the South-West Anthem.”
The governors commended the House of Representatives and the South-West Caucus for their efforts at passing the South-West Development Commission Bill, saying it looked forward to its speedy passage by the Senate.
“The meeting commends President Bola Tinubu on the groundbreaking of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, the proposed Lagos to Sokoto road and encourages the Federal Government to rehabilitate other Federal roads in the region,” it stated.
The Forum also “condemns in strong terms the group of people agitating for Yoruba nation.”
The PUNCH reports that the Oyo State Police Command in April arraigned 29 Yoruba Nation agitators who invaded the state government secretariat in Agodi, Ibadan.
The state government also demolished a building where the Yoruba Nation agitators were said to be operating from.
On minimum wage, the forum said it “supports the efforts of the Federal Government, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Organised Private Sector on their ongoing conversations with the Labour Union. We believe the outcome will reflect true fiscal federalism.”
Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum had last week rejected a proposed N60,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, Halimah Ahmed, the governors said the proposed minimum wage was too high and unsustainable.
The NGF expressed concern that if the N60,000 minimum wage was adopted, many states would allocate their entire Federal Account Allocation Committee funds to salaries, leaving no resources for development projects.
Meanwhile, organised labour has also vowed to reject any N62,000 or N100,000 minimum wage proposal by the Federal Government.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, described such a proposal as a “starvation wage.”
