Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has called for reform in the judiciary to enable state police to perform sustainably.
Speaking via zoom, at the Arise News Towhhall on Building a National Consensus for State Police, he said the debate should include reforms in the judiciary.
He expressed surprise that advocates of state police did not envisage reforms in the judiciary.
According to Solido, “we talk of state and forget the state judiciary. The matter should be on how to make the State police to be sustainable.
” The sustainability here is the state police. The police and judiciary works hand in hand and together to achieve the desired objective of the Justice System.
” As we talk of state police, we need to review and reform the judiciary. Today, all issues of state judiciary go to a federal control Appeal Court and then to Supreme Court.
”There should be state appeal court and state supreme court to handle cases arising from the states”, he said.
Buttressing his position for review and reform of the judiciary, Soludo said in Anambra State, there are several land disputes that ought to go the state appeal court, if there’s one and subsequently to state supreme court.
According to the governor, “People go to the supreme court to seek justice in a case that should be handled by the state appeal and state supreme court.
”People appeal to the federal appeal court and supreme court that in some cases takes over 40 years, but if there were state appeal courts, it could have been addressed at the state level than going to federal appeals.”
He said Nigeria was devolving powers without a corresponding funding issues.
The governor said it was not fair for federal system to be collecting 53 percent of federal revenue.
He said the 26 percent revenue to states is not fair to address the issues of state police and the responsibility.
According to Soludo, the revenue should be reformed and reviewed to make the states collect 40 percent.
He said the revenue of Federation should be addressed to have the base like the pyramid where the state will have more revenue, adding, this will make the discussion on security and police more sustainable.
