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• Says it can’t wait and will not be postponed
• Nothing you’ve sent to us has died in first reading, we pledge our support – Akpabio
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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu intensified his push for state police Wednesday night, calling on the Senate to kick off constitutional amendments to reshape Nigeria’s security framework against surging terrorism, banditry and insurgency.
He made the appeal during an interfaith iftar with Senate leaders at the State House, Abuja, stressing the need for subnational governments to control policing, enabling them to reclaim forests from criminals and protect citizens.
“Nigeria is extremely challenged; we are facing terrorism, banditry, and insurgency, but you never failed to make the right response to these calls. What I will ask for tonight is for you to start thinking about how best to amend the Constitution to incorporate the state police for us to secure our country, take over our forests from marauders, and free our children from fear,” the president said.
This plea builds on Tinubu’s year-long drive. In February 2024, he formed a federal–state committee with governors to map out state police options. He repeated the urgency in November 2025 to the National Assembly, at the APC caucus in December, and just days ago with governors during the breaking of fast, insisting that state police “can’t wait” and “will not be postponed”.
Tinubu described the reform as a unifying duty: “What you have faced in the challenging period of this country, the terrorism and banditry, is causing us havoc, and we should pull together, unite in a way that our forefathers contemplated, to bring about a constitutional democracy and pull us together. They didn’t say we should fight.”
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He also hailed Senate support for his economic overhauls, like ending fuel subsidies and unifying forex markets, which he called a blow to “monumental corruption”.
“I have a lot of credit for bold reforms. Without your collaborations, without your inspirations, those reforms are not possible. We are reformists together,” Tinubu said. “What we gave up and what we stopped are a monumental corruption in subsidies. We gave it up. We don’t want to participate in monumental corruption, in arbitrage, foreign exchange.”
The president noted emerging stability: “You don’t have to chase me for dollars. In the past, you could see what Nigeria is today. You should be proud… What we are enjoying is a stable economy; prosperity is beckoning us. We just need to work hard for it.”
Brushing off opposition attacks on stifling dissent, he quipped: “When they accused me of killing opposition, I didn’t have a gun… I can’t blame anybody for jumping out of a sinking ship if they did.” He linked Ramadan and Lent’s overlap to national harmony: “We are committed to the Nigerian entity succeeding. We are committed to make law for the welfare and prosperity of the country. I think we are committed together to govern together.”
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, pledged unwavering support. “We have nothing to give to you other than to assure you of our loyalty,” Akpabio said. “I’m sure you have noticed that nothing you have ever sent to us died in first reading, and it will never happen.”
He detailed the Senate’s rigorous process: “We sit down to painstakingly go through everything that comes before us, and then at the end, we see that it is in the interest of Nigerians, even when social media is not seeing it.”
Akpabio praised Tinubu’s reforms on taxes, forex, subsidies and elections, predicting prosperity by 2031 despite “troubles and sponsored insecurity”. He thanked the president for appointing ex-Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as ambassador. The event closed with prayers for leaders tackling Nigeria’s trials.
