Amid escalating insecurity in Benue State, Professor Leonard Karshima Shilgba has formally petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging immediate constitutional reforms to address the crisis. In his petition, Prof. Shilgba strongly opposed calls for emergency rule in Benue, instead advocating for the establishment of state police and the formal recognition of local security groups to combat rising violence.
Prof. Shilgba, a founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Chairman of the Governing Board of NABTEB, emphasized that emergency rule would be an inadequate and potentially harmful response to the security challenges facing Benue. He argued that the situation does not meet the constitutional threshold for such drastic measures, citing Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.
Prof. Shilgba warned that politicizing insecurity could erode public trust in the federal government, noting that similar security challenges exist in states like Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Borno, and Nasarawa without calls for emergency rule.
He urged President Tinubu to prioritize constitutional amendments that would empower state governments to take charge of their security, ensuring a more sustainable and effective response to the crisis.