Tijani Mustapha, a Media Aide to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has stated that the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, didn’t read the State Police Bill before criticising it.

This was after Obi criticised the Senate’s passage of the bill, describing the action as rushed and without proper legislative procedures, thereby fueling suspicion among many observers about the political motives behind it.

Obi also lamented that the mechanism for passing the law appears highly disorganised, with no public hearing. He also highlighted the widespread fear that state police forces could become instruments in the hands of governors.

“The suspicion is that a state-controlled police force could be weaponised to suppress political rivals, disrupt opposition rallies, and manipulate elections,” he said.

Obi added that for state policing to evolve from a risky political gamble into a genuine security solution, the law must not only permit states to establish police forces but also clearly provide for independent oversight bodies, such as a state-level Police Service Commission that is entirely free from executive influence, to ensure that policing serves the public interest rather than the interests of the ruling elite.

Reacting, Akpabio’s aide stated on X that Obi’s post shows that he “clearly didn’t read the bill as passed.”

He added, “I know this because his major concern of the creation of an independent state police service commission was duly addressed in the bill.

“For a man who doesn’t know the meaning of KPI, one again wonders what this individual’s mental capacities are.”