Senator representing Borno South, senatorial district, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume has expressed a dissenting view on the clamour by the state government for the establishment of state police.

Ndume also called for caution in enforcing the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy and the amendment to the constitution.

Ndume, who made the submission at the weekend while addressing journalists on the sideline of retreat by the Senate Committee on constitutional review in Kano, believed that the Nigerian armed forces possess the tenacity to end the menace of Boko Haram and banditry in six months.

Responding to his position on location government financial autonomy, Ndume said he bore no objection to the amendment but called for caution in the enforcement.

While others favoured the autonomy, the senator reminded the local government across the state may not afford to pay salaries, if left alone to manage their affairs. He cited Askira, Bio, and others in his constituency who may be unable to make it.

Ndume argued that instead of declaring a blanket decision on the local government autonomy, the governments should enact a policy to make the council viable, especially in revenue generation.

The Federal lawmaker said he supports a review that enables the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to take over council elections.

“In my personal opinion, I believe local government should be made to function properly and accord them the autonomy they so desire to work effectively. For me, I support that because we have seen where councils construct roads and hospitals. But we need to understand some especially in my state have no capacity to do that,” he said.

On state police, Ndume believed that Nigerians should focus their energy on how to strengthen the present capacity of the Federal security agencies.

The Senator revealed that Nigeria only has less than 400,000 police officers and 200,000 armed forces, which are grossly inadequate for the population of Nigeria, adding that governors should rather agitate for an additional number of police to boost the strength of the existing operatives.