The Presidency has announced that significant progress has been made toward the establishment of state police in Nigeria, with a constitutional amendment expected in the near future following months of consultations involving the Executive, the National Assembly and security agencies.
Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents after a consultative meeting on state police convened by the Presidency at the State House in Abuja.
According to Gbajabiamila, discussions on the proposed state police framework commenced about three to four months ago following a directive from President Bola Tinubu. He said the consultations have now reached an advanced stage, paving the way for the necessary constitutional amendments.
He noted that the establishment of state police involves complex constitutional and legal considerations and cannot be implemented hastily.
“We started deliberations in the last three or four months on how to go about the establishment of state police as directed by Mr President. Establishing state police is not something that you do with the snap of the fingers. There is a lot involved in terms of constitution and legalities, and thank God we have now gained a lot of traction,” he said.
Gbajabiamila expressed optimism that the constitutional amendment process would begin shortly, adding that details of the amendment would be made public in due course.
He explained that current discussions are focused primarily on the constitutional framework, while the enabling legislation required to operationalise state police would follow afterward.
“Right now, what we are looking at is the constitutional amendment itself, and then the enabling law would follow thereafter. That is what we have been deliberating on in the last couple of hours,” he added.
The Chief of Staff said there is now broad national consensus on the need for state police, stressing that the debate has shifted from whether the system should be established to how it should be structured and implemented within the law.
He further disclosed that President Tinubu, a longstanding advocate of state policing, would be presented with a comprehensive report on the outcome of the meeting.
The consultative session forms part of ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to develop a workable framework for state police as a means of strengthening internal security, improving local intelligence gathering and enhancing the capacity of state governments to respond to security challenges.
President Tinubu has consistently argued that state police is necessary to address Nigeria’s evolving security threats, maintaining that a decentralised policing system would bolster grassroots security and improve the protection of lives and property across the country.
Among those who attended the meeting were Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi; and Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, alongside other senior government officials.