Nigerian Governors Toothless Chief Security Officers Of Their States – Masari

The governor of Katsina, Aminu Masari, has described state governors as powerless chief security officers of their states because security is the responsibility of the Nigerian government as stated by the 1999 Constitution.

A statement by the governor’s Director General on Media, Abdul Labaran, on Sunday insisted that state governors are only chief security officers by name.

“In matters of security, a governor is the Chief Security Officer of his state only in name, because the various security chiefs working in the state take orders not from him, but from their superiors in Abuja.
“The only things they take from governors are the financial and material assistance (both solicited and unsolicited), which they extend to the security institutions in the states,” he said.

Masari also described as uncalled for the call for his resignation by some people and groups, including the state chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) because he asked residents to arm themselves against bandits.
According to him, the call “betrays a sheer lack of the understanding of the letter and spirit as well as the workings of the Nigerian Constitution.”
“We must all rise up to counter the insecurity challenge, we must not sit and watch some people buying guns attacking our houses, we too should buy the guns and protect ourselves,” Masari had said.

He had earlier described terrorised residents of the state as cowards for expecting the government to protect them against bandits.