Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
Ondo State governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, will today in the Presidential Villa meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over the South-west regional security outfit, Amotekun, to formally brief the president on the necessity for the security network.
THISDAY learnt yesterday that the governor who will meet with the president at 3p.m, will personally be discussing the matter with him for the first time.
It was learnt that the president had earlier expressed reservations over the decisions of the South-west Governors to launch a programme of that magnitude without personally consulting him.
But the South-west governors had explained that they carried the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, along in the preparation towards the launch of the outfit on January 9, this year, and had believed that the IG as the head of the internal security mechanism in the country and an appointee of the president would keep him abreast of information on the security network.
Akeredolu who is the Chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum, had led his colleagues to meet with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on January 23 along with the IG and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister, Mr. Abubakar Malami, where they agreed to come up with a legal framework to serve as a legal backing for the security network.
The launch of Amotekun on January 9 had generated huge controversies across the country following reports that the AGF had declared the outfit illegal.
The declaration provoked anger in the people of the South-west, who staged peaceful protests across the region in support of Amotekun on January 21, reiterating that there was no going back on the security network.
It was learnt that the South-west governors, following the controversies, which trailed the launch of the network, had requested to meet with the president, but the latter delegated his deputy, Osinbajo, to meet with them following his trip to London at the time to attend the UK-Africa summit.
After the meeting, Akeredolu told journalists that they had a fruitful discussion on Amotekun and resolved to come up with a legal framework to back up the outfit in line with the federal government’s vision for community policing.
“Well, we had a very fruitful discussion. Governors of South-west as you know, we were all there. The meeting was presided over by the vice president. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation was there as well as the Inspector-General of Police.
“So, we have rubbed minds and all of us have agreed on the way forward. The most important one is that we are going to have a legal framework to back this Amotekun. And this legal framework is going to be one which we are going to look at and will be sure to go without any hinderance,” he had said.
Today’s meeting is believed to yet serve as a platform by Akeredolu, that he and his colleagues hold the president in high esteem and that the earlier launch was never intended to spite him but perhaps caused by erroneous assumptions.
