All Progressives Congress stalwart, Bola Tinubu, says the South-West Security Network codenamed ‘Operation Amotekun’ is a laudable initiative but needs some operational and conceptual modifications or else it will fail.
Tinubu said this in a statement on Wednesday, days after coming under intense criticism for failing to speak on the matter.
The former governor of Lagos State, who is rumoured to be nursing a Presidential ambition, refused to take sides on the matter.
He wrote, “As I understand it, Amotekun is to be another set of eyes and ears to assist the police. As such, it is but the second generation of Neighbourhood Watch expanded to a regional scale. Conceptually, there is nothing wrong with this. It does not appear to insult the constitution.
“However, my position regarding Amotekun is not blind or uncritical; there are several organisational and functional aspects of the proposal that could cause some problems if left unresolved.”
Tinubu said Amotekun should have been fashioned to the peculiarities of each state rather than having a regional structure.
He wrote, “Amotekun should have focused on grassroots local organisation at the state level without a regional command hierarchy. The regional approach may undermine efficiency. There is no compelling logic why the same personnel providing security informational assistance in Ado-Ekiti should be under the same functional and operational leadership as those providing assistance in Lekki or Akure. This will not lead to optimal performance.
“The regional approach has only limited benefit with regard to the procurement and maintenance of vehicles and communications equipment because this wider approach allows for economies of scale.
“The regional approach also helps tackle the growing incidences of interstate criminal activity. Some things need to be corrected before Amotekun becomes operational. If not, it will not live up to expectations. Thus, the current formulation of Amotekun is in need of repair before it takes to the road only to quickly slip into a ditch.”
He criticised the South-West governors and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for the controversy over the initiative, which is heating the polity.