- The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has demanded that state governors be granted full constitutional powers to appoint and dismiss State Commissioners of Police, similar to the President’s authority over the Inspector-General of Police.
- The forum reaffirmed its resolution that the Nigerian presidency must remain in the Southern region for a second term following the 2027 general elections to ensure political stability.
- Regional leaders condemned the lack of internal democracy in party primaries and renewed their call for a new constitution that enshrines true federalism and permits independent candidates.
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has endorsed the proposed establishment of state police, insisting that state governors must possess full constitutional authority to appoint and remove state Commissioners of Police.
Eko Hot Blog reports that meeting at the PANDEF liaison office in Abuja, the forum, which comprises Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and the Middle Belt Forum, argued that withholding such operational control from governors would merely yield a “Federal State Police” rather than a genuinely decentralized system rooted in true federalism.
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Reading the communique, Afenifere leader Chief Oladipo Olaitan emphasized that true decentralization requires state executives to hold powers equivalent to those exercised by the President over the Inspector-General of Police.
Beyond police reform, the regional leaders renewed their call for a new constitution to devolve greater powers to federating units.
Addressing political developments, the forum declared that the presidency should remain in the South for another four-year term following the 2027 general elections to preserve national cohesion.
The group also decried the erosion of internal democracy across political parties, criticizing the dominance of party oligarchies during ongoing primaries and advocating for the inclusion of independent candidacy in Nigeria’s electoral framework.
While acknowledging recent gains by security forces in Oyo, Zamfara, and Borno, the SMBLF urged the Federal Government to sustain anti-terror momentum across vulnerable Middle Belt states, including Benue, Plateau, Kaduna, Kwara, and Kogi, through heightened military action and international collaboration.
