The National Economic Council on Thursday deferred talks on state police until its next meeting.

Bayelsa Governor, Duoye Diri, told State House Correspondents after the council’s 149th meeting at the Aso Rock Villa that the issue was on the agenda, but it could not be discussed in detail as it was still far down on the list.

“State police was part of our agenda today, but unfortunately, because of time demands, and after a very long meeting, we have been there for a very long time now, the presentations could not get to that point. So, I assure you that in our next meeting, that issue will be exhaustively discussed,” the governor explained after the nearly four-hour meeting.

Although the governor did not specify when the next council meeting will be, NEC meetings are held on the last Thursday of the month.

However, the gathering has been infrequent in the last couple of months. Since its meeting in December, the council has not discussed the much-anticipated reform.

Although all 36 states had submitted reports supporting a decentralised police force,  the NEC deferred discussions until January 2025. The council only sat in February where it said the matter was not discussed.

During the meeting, the governors observed a minute of silence to honour those killed in the recent wave of attacks in Plateau, Benue, Borno and Enugu States.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum has emphasised the need for increased recruitment into security agencies and the adoption of technology-driven solutions to tackle killings at the state level.

The forum, led by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, made this known in a communiqué read by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma following their meeting early Thursday morning in Abuja.

He stated that, as an immediate step to address the surge in killings in parts of the country, the Governors have set up a committee to collaborate with security agency heads on a joint strategy.