Contrary to media reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the creation of State Policing, his aides have come out to deny the claims. The Presidency said that President Buhari had requested that the report would be studied and a white paper produced within three months.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu noted that “President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, 3rd, June 2019 received a report on the reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).” The President requested that the report be studied and a white paper produced within three months. “President Buhari’s specific directive is that a three-man panel is set up to produce the white paper.
The report of the white paper committee will form the basis of the decisions of the government on the many recommendations, including the setting up of state and local government police made by the Ojukwu panel. “Until a white paper is produced, it will be premature and pre-emptive to suggest that the recommendations contained in the report have been approved by the President in part or whole.”