President Bola Tinubu has urged House of Representatives members to support a community-driven approach to tackling insecurity across the country.
Tinubu made the call on Friday at an interfaith breaking of fast with the lawmakers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President stressed that security challenges must be addressed holistically, with special attention to the grassroots level.
“Security is local. If security is local, we just have to work together to make sure that we are safe,” Tinubu said.
He reiterated the need for lawmakers to mobilise public support for the creation of state police as part of efforts to strengthen the security architecture of the country.
“We have to put pressure on our people to accept the need for state police,” the president said.
Tinubu, however, cautioned that the proposed state policing system must be properly structured to avoid abuse.
“Its not a straight free fall for everybody. Tie it in a way that it will not be abused like in the past,” he said.
The President noted that lawmakers must draw lessons from previous governance experiences.
“A good legislator must learn from the past to cure the present,” he added.
Tinubu commended members of the National Assembly for supporting key reforms undertaken by his administration.
He specifically thanked them for backing the removal of fuel subsidy and the foreign exchange reforms.