Leadnaija
A proposed constitutional amendment that aims to decentralise policing in Nigeria by allowing states to establish their own police forces will, next month, undergo a “referendum” as the two chambers of the National Assembly embark on public hearings across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
This piece of legislation, marked HB 617 and officially titled: “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters,” seeks to move policing from the Exclusive to the Concurrent Legislative List.
This shift, proponents argue, would empower states to create and maintain their own police services alongside the existing federal police.
The bill addresses the need for improved public safety and law enforcement by decentralising the police force; clarifies the roles and responsibilities of both state and federal police, and also provides a framework for funding and oversight.
The proponents of the bill argue that it is necessary to address the rising security challenges such as terrorism, kidnapping, and other violent conflicts facing Nigeria.
It has also been argued that the bill has the potentials to significantly impact Nigeria’s security landscape by bringing law enforcement closer to local communities and potentially improving responsiveness to local security needs.
The Senate Adhoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution is set to hold a comprehensive two-day zonal public hearing in the six geo-political zones of the country, to gather the opinions and inputs of Nigerians on the proposed constitutional amendments.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, who heads the committee, disclosed on Thursday that the zonal public hearings will be held simultaneously in Lagos (South West), Enugu (South East), Ikot Ekpene (South South, Jos (North Central) Maiduguri, (North East) and Kano (North West).
In a statement issued in Abuja and signed by the Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, the public hearings, scheduled for July 4 and 5, 2025, will examine critical national issues, including local government autonomy, electoral and judicial reforms, state creation, state police and inclusive governance.
Mudashir said that among the bills to be considered during the zonal public hearings are two bills on security and policing for the establishment of state police and state security council to coordinate internal security policies at the sub-national level.
The committee stressed the importance of public engagement in shaping the country’s constitution and called on everyone to participate during the zonal public hearings.
Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, while reacting to the development, supported the establishment of state police, saying that it will go a long way in addressing the state of insecurity across the country.
Bamidele, who stated this in Abuja described the current state of policing in Nigeria as “ailing and dysfunctional.”
“We must admit that the system can no longer guarantee the dignity of human lives and the security of collective assets considering our security dynamics in the Fourth Republic.
“The proposal for the creation of state police has been a subject of intense debate in the last decade or more. This in part, can be attributed to the rise of armed attacks orchestrated by diverse interests either pursuing divisive agendas or seeking predatory ends in virtually all geopolitical zones,” he said.
Opeyemi noted that Nigeria, one of the world’s fastest-growing nations in terms of population, could not continue to operate a centralised policing system, adding that such a policing model cannot meaningfully address existential threats to Nigeria’s internal cohesion and stability.
“Unlike in 1979, when we had a population of 70.75 million, Nigeria is now a federation of about 229 million people and is currently the world’s sixth-biggest country.
This is as shown in the demographic data of the United Nations.
“Contrarily, as revealed in the recent presentation of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Nigeria has a police-citizen ratio of one to 650.This ratio is a far cry from a ratio of one to 460, which, according to the United Nations, is a minimum requirement for every sovereign state or territory worldwide,” he said.
He stated that the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution would allow stakeholders to interrogate the nation’s security framework and take a position on the desirability or otherwise of state police in the country.
Similarly, the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution announced that the zonal public hearings will be held in 12 states across Nigeria from July 11 to July 20, 2025.
Deputy Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Committee, Hon Benjamin Kalu, disclosed this during a meeting with consultants and secretariat staff. He explained that the public hearings would take place in two phase; northern states from July 11 to 13, and southern states from July 18 to 20.
The purpose of the zonal hearings, Kalu said, is to gather citizens’ input on proposed amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
He said that through the public hearings, the committee seeks to ensure that the voices of Nigerians were heard and that their concerns addressed in the constitution review process.
The committee, Kalu said, will prioritise proposed amendments on gender bills and inclusive governance, security and police reforms, fiscal reforms, judicial reforms and devolution of powers.
“The current constitutional review process is perhaps the most comprehensive in our nation’s history, addressing fundamental issues that touch on governance, security, fiscal federalism, and inclusive representation. “We are currently considering prioritised constitutional amendments, grouped into thematic areas that reflect the aspirations and concerns of the Nigerian people,” Kalu said.
The Labour Party (LP), one of Nigeria’s opposition parties however, said that the operation of a centralised police structure in Nigeria has proven to be “unwieldy, cumbersome, inefficient and not designed to function effectively.”
Acting National Chairman Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, who spoke through her Senior Special Adviser (Media), Ken Asogwa, blamed flawed intelligence gathering in crime fighting in Nigeria to deployment of police officers to unfamiliar environment.
“It’s a no-brainer: when you deploy a police officer from Kaura Namoda to Nsukka to investigate a crime or serve as a Divisional Police Officer, he inevitably has to rely on local intelligence to make any meaningful headway.
“So, why bring in someone unfamiliar with the terrain when individuals who understand the local environment can do a far better job?
“This is precisely why the United States has the Sheriff system – officers recruited from within the community who know the terrain and its dynamics intimately,” she stated.
There’s nothing wrong with state police -Ladoja
Senator Rasidi Ladoja, the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland and former Oyo State, who governor spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Adeola Oloko, said; “In my own opinion and belief, there is nothing wrong with state police because it is part of the characteristics of the federal structure that we borrow and are practising.
“Over centralized policing as we have seen now has some major limitations. “There is the need to empower the states to have their own Police Force where we are going to have policing at the grassroots level.
“In Oyo State for instance, we have 351 wards. So, when you begin to recruit, you have to take all these things into consideration.
“During the reign of Oba Saliu Adetunji, the 41st Olubadan of Ibadanland, there was the problem of “one million boys” in Ibadan. What was done was to introduce “Neighbourhood Security”, and it was through that system that we were able to fish out all these people who were posing problems to our security. This is part of the issue,” he said.
Speaking on the fear that state police might not be properly used, misused or abused by the state governors, he said that there should be opportunity for the citizens to speak on how police officers should operate.
He wondered if the federal government is not misusing the current federal police.
He said: “Can we say that they have been obeying? If we call Governors the Chief Security Officers of their states, they should be indeed and not in name. So, those are the fundamental things. You don’t just dress people in a borrowed robe.
“If the state is having security meeting now and a state governor calls the Commissioner of Police and the officer receives a counter order from Abuja, he will follow the one from Abuja and the governor will be helpless.
But if you have this kind of a thing which is regulated, (because you are not going to give anybody a blank cheque to do anything), people who are expressing fear will not. “Those people are remembering, when politicians in the First Republic abused and misused the state police.
But I don’t think that is going to happen now because we are becoming more developed. We see what is happening in different civilised societies. So, we don’t envisage any problem along that line, the police can be sued and held accountable.”
Centralised police cannot curb banditry, kidnapping-Oyo APC
Olawale Sadare, the Publicity Secretary of the Oyo State chapter of the APC, said in his response that at the rate crimes are being committed in Nigeria, there is no way centralised police can curb banditry, kidnapping, and the likes.
Sadare stressed that Nigeria is long overdue for state and local government police, saying that it is even inappropriate, unconstitutional, and illogical for a federal police to enforce state laws.
“In every federation, there are bound to be federal laws and state laws. Each tier of government should have its law enforcement agency to do this. There is no way state governors will not attempt to victimise opponents with the law enforcement agents under them. It will just be as they are abusing the state independent electoral agencies now.
“However, there will be clear demarcation of responsibilities between the federal police and state police. The state police could be barred from interfering with highly sensitive matters and issues bothering on election, immigration, currency, and national security,” he said.
State police, mere nomenclature -Kogi Govt
The Kogi state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mr. Kinsley Fanwo said, while reacting to the issue, said that the word ‘police’ is a nomenclature as the state government has already gone far in encouraging community policing to tackle the insecurity challenges currently going through decimation.
“issue of state police is a constitutional matter. However, states are beginning to tailor their security architecture around community security outfits.
“In Kogi State, we have vigilante service and we have the Hunters Group, all supporting the conventional security agencies to ensure security in Kogi State.
“The nomenclature isn’t as important as the functions. States are beginning to take charge of their security architecture. Kogi State has embraced a bottom to the top security system.
“The community also has a big role to play in securing the people,” he said.
But the Executive Director of Initiative for Grassroots Advancement in Nigeria (INGRA), Hamza Aliyu said that with less than one million people in the regular security agencies (police, civil defence, army, etc), it is practically impossible to provide security for over 200m citizens.
He said Nigeria has one of the challenged security ratios with 1 security Officer to over 200 citizens.
“Many large spaces in Kogi State do not have the presence of security agents, thus making it challenging to adequately prevent and mitigate crime and criminality.
“There is a need to increase the involvement of all tiers of government in the protection of security of lives and properties.
“The solution is undoubtedly the decentralization of the security architecture in what has famously come to be known as state policing,” he said.
In his reaction, Faruk Muhammed Adejoh, President of the Network for Quality Mentorship and Leadership Initiative, said that the issue of insecurity is of great concern to both the government and the people.
“Some believe that establishing a state security agency could be the answer to this problem. But is this really the best solution? Let’s take a closer look at this debate and consider both the advantages and disadvantages of such a decision.
“Supporters of state security argue that having a specialised agency dedicated to security matters could lead to more effective and coordinated efforts in fighting crime. By centralising security operations, there are potentials for better intelligence gathering, strategic planning, and allocation of resources. This could result in faster responses to security threats and an overall more efficient approach to maintaining law and order in our state,” he noted.
Adejoh said that it is important to consider the perspectives and feedback of the public and other stakeholders in this debate.
Afenifere, SMBLF back state police
Afenifere, the Pan-Yoruba social-political group, and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) also backed the establishment of state police to tackle insecurity in different parts of the country.
The SMBLF kicked against the idea of adding additional federal security structure to the existing ones and demanded that all security institutions or formations apart from the armed forces, police, civil defence, and the State Security Services should be part of the security architecture of the states.
The SMBLF comprised Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba Social-Political group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF)
The SMBLF said that pending full-fledged restructuring towards true federalism, governments of the states of the federation should take immediate measures to provide security for their people, like the Amotekun South West Security Network, with the full complement of weapons to face and deter insurgency and terrorism.
Afenifere, through its spokesman, Comrade Jare Ajayi, asked President Bola Tinubu to send an executive bill to the National Assembly on the establishment of state police to tackle insecurity in different parts of the country.
The mainstream Yoruba expressed concern over the rate of insecurity despite the efforts made by both the state and the federal government. He also asked the federal government to procure security gadgets, including military drones, and trackers to check insecurity.
Ajayi said: “Afenifere is recommending that the state police be established without further delay. In this respect, Afenifere calls on President Bola Tinubu to forward an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to allow the establishment of State police in line with his pronouncement that says that State Police is now a necessity.
“We call on the President to use his authority to ensure that the process that will lead to the actualization of state police gets done immediately.”
Nigeria not prepared for decentralised police – Egbetokun
However, the hierarchy of the Nigeria Police Force ( NPF) appeared not favourably disposed to the proposed constitutional amendments to decentralise the current policing system.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun was quoted to have made the NPF’s position known at a recent constitution review legislative dialogue on the national security architecture in Abuja.
The dialogue themed, “Nigeria’s peace and security: the constitutional imperative’, was organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser.
During the dialogue, Egbetokun, was quoted to have said that the Nigeria Police Force is constitutionally established under Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The section reads: “There shall be a police force for Nigeria which shall be known as the Nigerian Police Force and subject to the provisions of this section, no other police force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof.”
He further cited Section 215(1), which provides for the appointment of the Inspector General of Police by the President on the advice of the Nigerian Police Council.
“‘These constitutional provisions make clear the centralised character of policing in Nigeria and the operational authority entrusted to the Inspector General of Police under the supervision of the President and Police Council,” he said.
