Barely 24 hours after the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami’s (SAN) described the declaration of Amotekun, a Southwest security outfit as illegal, the Executive Governor of Oyo state, Engr. Seyi Makinde has reacted.
The Oyo State Governor disclosed that the AGF does not have powers to label the regional security outifts illegal.
This disclosure was made by the Governor during his visit to former president Olusegun Obasanjo in Ogun state on Wednesday, January 14.
While reacting on the issue, the Governor further stressed that the stance of the Federal Government on Amotekun has not been officially communicated by the attorney-general of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
He said; “My personal position is that you actually don’t run government on the social media. If I see a letter or if I get a call from the Attorney-General of the Federation telling me what you just said, then it would be a different fact of reaction.
“So, I’ve been reading just like you read on the social media; I haven’t seen anything official to that effect. And besides, I don’t think for a country like Nigeria, the Attorney-General will just wake up and make his own laws.
“He may interpret and advise the President if there are legal issues, but I haven’t seen anything that gave that power to the Attorney General to make such declaration.”
Governor Makinde further revealed that the security outfit will bridge the existing gaps in security in the six South-West states.
He added that it will complement the police and other security agencies.
Makinde said;
“I did say that this outfit is complementary to the Nigerian police and other security agencies. In Oyo State, the government is being placed on four major pillars: education, health, security and expansion of our economy through agri-business.
“So, security is a major pillar for us and we believe you cannot have any development in an atmosphere that is not secure. If you look at investments, money coming into an economy, such money is a coward. If such money sees anywhere that is not secured, they would fly and run away. So, security is key.
“The security agencies are doing their best, but there are still gaps. Just like in most sectors of our body polity, we do have gaps in education, in healthcare delivery. So, in security also, there are gaps and we believe that playing complementary roles will also help to narrow those gaps.”