Still on the need for state police

It  is good that President Bola Tinubu has effectively set in motion the agenda for state police with the inaugurating of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill. The body is to prepare the legal framework for implementing the initiative across the country. The inauguration followed the Senate’s passage of the Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, proposing a dual policing structure comprising the Federal Police Service and 36 State Police Services. Coming at a time the country is literally at the mercy of terrorists and other shades of criminal elements, the move is commendable. It is only hoped that the project is followed through, transparently and judiciously.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila is the chairman of the committee. The members include the Attorney-General of the Federation, National Security Adviser and Inspector-General of Police. Others are; President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Chairman, NGF Committee on State Police and a Secretariat.

At the inauguration of the committee, Tinubu noted that while the constitutional amendment creates the framework for state police, the National Policing Bill would provide the legal structure for its implementation. The proposed legislation, according to the President, would address policing standards, state readiness, federal-state coordination, accountability, human rights safeguards and personnel transition. He added that the committee will produce an implementation-ready draft bill immediately after the constitutional amendment process. In addition, the committee would recommend other legal instruments required for the smooth implementation of the dual policing system.

The committee is a follow-up to a recent proposal by the Inspector General of Police (IG), Tunji Disu, which recommended a robust roadmap for the actualisation of the project. The framework contains a bold funding structure, a 60-month phased implementation structure, beginning with constitutional amendments within the first year, as well as mechanisms against abuse of the initiative by political office holders and interest groups. Among the key recommendations in the document is that about 60 per cent of the existing police personnel would move to state police, while 40 per cent would remain within the federal structure.

Central to the proposal is the creation of a constitutionally guaranteed State Police Fund, which will draw three per cent of the Federation Account allocation, alongside a mandatory minimum contribution of 15 per cent from each state’s security budget. The funding model is designed to ensure transparency, sustainability, and operational independence of state police commands.

The framework further outlines a two-tier policing structure that will effectively restructure Nigeria’s security system into a Federal Police Service (FPS) and 37 State Police Services, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). While the FPS would focus on issues of national security as terrorism, interstate crime, and protection of federal assets, state police formations would deal with localised crimes, including armed robbery, homicide, domestic violence, and community-level intelligence gathering. The framework also identified community policing as the operational nerve centre of the entire system. In this regard, each state police command would be required to establish a Department of Community Policing, with structured forums at every level of local government.

To guard against the governors misusing the police structures for political ends, the document introduced robust constitutional and institutional safeguards, amongst which is the establishment of independent State Police Service Commissions, that are insulated from gubernatorial interference but empowered to handle recruitment, promotions, and discipline.

These are steps in the right direction. What is required is walking the talk on the project. The clamour for state police has been persistent given that Nigeria’s federal structure has proven to be incompatible with a unitary policing system that is not adequately staffed. With Nigeria’s estimated 200 million population, the current police strength of about 370,000 officers, representing one officer to 600 citizens is a far cry from the United Nations-recommended ratio of one police officer to 450 citizens.

There is no doubt that state or community policing is an arrangement which time and circumstances have made ideal. The growing demand for the initiative is a reflection of the inadequacies of Nigeria’s federal policing system to tackle the country’s worsening security challenges. The rising tide of crime in different parts of the country, including insurgency in the North-east, banditry in the North-west and communal unrest in other regions, are clear indications of obvious limitations of central policing arrangement, particularly in slow response, poor intelligence gathering, and diminishing community trust in law enforcement.

Besides, the present Police Force is too regimented and over stretched for effective response to the changing phases of criminality in the country. Every crime is local, according to experts. In this regard, the remark by the Inspector-General of Police that State Police will deepen community policing, improve intelligence gathering and bring policing closer to the people, is in order. This is because officers will better understand the communities they serve.

Reports that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and civil society organisations have also called for the implementation of the idea, add weight to its importance. Leading socio-political groups including the Apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, its Yoruba counterpart, Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Middle Belt Forum (MBF) as well as the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), have equally joined in the demand.

Processes for the implementation should therefore be commenced. There has been so much lethargy and prevarication on state police by successive administrations in the land. This is the time to give the project the attention it deserves. The security situation in the country points to need for state police. Let there be enough political will to ensure the take-off and implementation of the project.

The states who stand as the major beneficiaries of the agenda should be ready to make contributions for funding the scheme. Relevant equipment and personnel needed for the project should be provided.

But while the excitement for the project rises, there should be institutional checks to guard against abuse of the system by the state governors. The current police force has in many cases exhibited crass indiscretion in selling out itself as being more beholden to the chieftains and political parties in power than providing security to the people. At the state level, the situation has been more disturbing. Thus, the fear by critics is that with the envisaged arrangement being under the supervision of the states, the tendency for abuse by the governors could be higher, particularly as they would be providing parts of the funds for the operation. The ignoble role of the governors and parties in power in tailoring the States Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC)s to their whims, add weight to this suspicion. Experiences of the excesses of the regional Police Forces in the First Republic, make these fears valid. The proposed state police should not be allowed to toe this piteous path.

There is therefore the need for adequate safeguards against abuse of the project. The successes and failures of the proposed state police will be measured more on the implementation of the scheme and the attitudes of state governors to it.