Police Have Attacked Me Despite My Position – Gov. Fayemi

• We have in our manifesto issue of restructuring.
• The IGP could overrule a governor

Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, says his position has not shielded him from being attacked by the police.

Speaking on Wednesday during a virtual event hosted by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, the governor said it’s disingenuous to say governors have unlimited power.

At the meeting, which was organised to discuss and proffer solutions to Nigeria’s perennial security challenges, Fayemi said there’s only so much the governors can do as there’s over-concentration of power at the centre.

Fayemi said there are issues governors dare not dabble into despite being the chief executive of their states, noting that the inspector general of police could overrule a governor and nothing will happen.

“No matter how powerful you are as a governor, there are issues that you do not have control over because this is an over-centralised state as I mentioned earlier,” he said.

“The governor may direct his police commissioner but the inspector general of police (IGP) may tell the police commissioner not to respond to that order.

“I have been governor for some time and I have been a victim of police attack even as governor. So people should not make any exaggeration about the powers of governors.”

The governor also refuted claims that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors are only paying lip service to the issue of restructuring and have not shown the zeal and gravitas to restructure.

He said: “I can tell you categorically, take APC governors, for example, we have in our manifesto the whole issue of restructuring. We set up a committee that worked on restructuring. The committee produced the report — that report was given to the national assembly to work on.

“Have they done it? That is an area where the legislative institute can work with the national assembly to effect change if they see it as something that could relate with the general view of the ordinary Nigerians, not just the view of the political party.”

Fayemi said the governors should not be blamed for not carrying out the implementation.

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