The Attorneys-General of the six Southwest states have declared that they don’t need the permission of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to legalise the framework of operation of zone security network codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ as they are putting finishing touches to the required legal framework for the operation.
This as in order to conform with the constitutional requirements of the country, the Attorneys-General of the six South-West states on Friday night put finishing touches to the required legal framework to the draft bill of Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun.
According to the details of the agreed framework, each of the South West states- Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos will have its own legislation and its own security network operatives which will bear the name Amotekun Corps.
The Attorneys-General at the meeting include Professor Oyelowo Oyewo, Oyo; Mr Oluwafemi Akande, Osun; Mr Olawale Fapohunda, Ekiti; Mr Adekola Olawole, Ondo; Mr Akingbolahan Adeniran, Ogun and Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, Lagos, who was represented by the state’s Director of Civil Litigation, Mr S. A. Quadri.
The meeting which started around 7 pm and lasted for about three hours behind closed doors at Davies Hotel, Bodija, Ibadan was also attended by the officials of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, who were led by the Director-General, Mr Seye Oyeleye.
Addressing journalists after the meeting in the company of the other AGs, Prof. Oyewo denied insinuations of any political meaning to the reason the meeting could not hold on Thursday as scheduled.
He said: “Logistics and the challenges of the office of Attorneys-General in the various South-West states necessitated the change in the meeting day.”
Giving details of the legal framework, Oyewole noted that the bill will be sent to the various state Houses of Assemblies after it has been seen by the State Executive Councils(SEC) of the respective states.
He said the operational details and structural procedures of the security outfit will be uniform across the six states, to allow for collaboration amongst the states.
Oyewo reiterated that the security outfit will complement the existing security structure in the country.
He said Amotekun would be using the local intelligence, expressing optimism that the bill will not take too long before being passed into law by the respectively.
The meeting of the Attorneys-General of the six South-West states just concluded and we deliberated on the plan to evolve a collaborative security network/agency in the region.
“We have been able to come up with a legal framework to back the establishment of such a security network in each of the states. So each of the states will have its own legislation and its own security network corp that will bear the name Amotekun Corps.
Asked if the AGs will write to officially inform the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami on the new development, Oyewole noted: “We run a federal system, as long as laws are passed within the competence of our legislation, we don’t need the permission, authority or even the counsel of anybody other than the operators set under the constitution.
“As I have stated and I reiterate, the law is to establish a security network with Amotekun corps and that is what will be presented to the state houses of assembly and that will probably be passed into law.”
