By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

President Bola Tinubu has transmitted a Constitution Alteration Bill seeking the establishment of state police to the Senate.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, made this known during Tuesday’s plenary, adding that the Senate will consider the constitutional amendment bill on Wednesday, tomorrow.

Akpabio also announced that the states have promised to consider the state police bill on the same day once they receive it.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution to create a legal framework for state police across the federation.

The move follows repeated calls by the President for constitutional reforms to enable states to play a greater role in securing their territories.

In February, Tinubu urged the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to accommodate state police, describing the reform as necessary to tackle terrorism, banditry and other security threats.

During his Democracy Day address earlier this month, the President vowed that terrorists, bandits and their sponsors would face the full weight of the law, insisting that no mercy would be shown to enemies of the state.

Tinubu said more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralised within the last year and noted that terrorism-related deaths had fallen significantly compared to previous years.

However, he acknowledged that the continued captivity of schoolchildren abducted in Oyo and Borno states remained a painful reminder of the country’s security challenges.

The state police proposal has gained momentum in recent months, with both chambers of the National Assembly advancing constitutional amendment processes aimed at decentralising policing powers to the states.

The Senate is also expected to reconvene today for an emergency plenary session as lawmakers move to pass the bill and advance one of the most far-reaching security reforms in the country’s democratic history.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Tuesday opted for a no-case submission in his ongoing trial over alleged beach of national security.

The ex-governor made this known through his lawyer, Paul Erokoro, SAN, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, shortly after State Security Service, SSS, closed it case.

When the case was called, the DSS lawyer, Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution would not be calling further witnesses in the matter.

Aladedoye said with the evidence led so far, the prosecution was satisfied that it had been able to establish the offences with which El-Rufai was charged.

Following the development, Erokoro notified the court that the defence planned to file a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish sufficient evidence against the former governor.

He, therefore, sought two weeks to file the application, while the prosecution requested two weeks to respond.

Erokoro also applied for a variation of some of the bail conditions earlier granted to El-Rufai, describing them as stringent and difficult to meet.

He argued that the bail terms were too stringent, particularly the requirements for level 17 civil servants with properties in Maitama or Asokoro, as well as verification and attestation letters from the Kaduna State traditional council.

Aladedoye, however, opposed the request, insisting that qualified public officers who meet the conditions exist and urging the court to refuse the application.

Justice Abdulmalik, in her ruling, declined the application to vary the bail conditions.

The judge held that there are civil servants who own properties at the said location.

She adjourned the matter until Sept. 22 for the filing of the no-case submission and continuation of trial.

The DSS had sued El-Rufai after he claimed, during an Arise Tv interview, that he intercepted a telephone conversation involving the the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Nuhu Ribadu.

The ex-governor had alleged that the conversation, on the telephone, revealed instructions to security operatives to arrest him.

He linked the alleged directive to an incident at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Feb. 12 after his return from Cairo, Egypt.

Mr El-Rufai, who was arraigned on April 23 for allegedly intercepting the phone conversations of the telephone line of the NSA, pleaded not guilty to the five-count further amended charge.

By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday ordered the remand of Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate of African Action Congress, in Kuje Prison.

Justice Mohammed Umar, in a short ruling, ordered Mr Sowore to be kept in prison pending the hearing and determination of his motion for a stay of the order for revoking bail and bench warrant.

Mr Umar also dismissed Mr Sowore’s earlier application seeking the judge’s recusal from the case on the ground of alleged bias.

The judge then adjourned the matter until June 24 for the hearing of the application for stay.

The motion for stay was filed by the defendant’s new lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika.

Mr Sowore, also the publisher of Sahara Reporters, arrived at the court accompanied by members of his group, who held placards.

Mr Umar had, on June 16, revoked a bail granted to Mr Sowore following his failure to appear in court for his trial.

Mr Umar, in a ruling on an oral application made by the lawyer to the State Security Service, Akinkolu Kehinde, also issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

The SSS is prosecuting Mr Sowore for allegedly making false claims against the person of President Bola Tinubu by referring to him as “a criminal” in a post he made on X and Facebook.