Proposed State Police gains momentum as Tinubu pushes for constitutional reform

Nigeria is moving closer to establishing state police as the presidency has confirmed a constitutional amendment to create the long-debated security structure could soon be introduced, signalling a major shift in the country’s approach to tackling rising insecurity.

Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this on Thursday after a high-level consultative meeting on state police held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He said that months of deliberations involving the executive, National Assembly and security agencies had yielded significant progress toward developing a legal framework for the initiative.

The proposed reform is widely seen as one of the most consequential changes to Nigeria’s security architecture since the return to democracy, with supporters arguing that decentralised policing will strengthen local intelligence gathering, improve response times and enable state governments to address security threats more effectively.

“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,” Gbajabiamila told State House correspondents.

“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. Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly.”

According to him, discussions have now advanced to the stage of finalising the constitutional amendment that will provide the legal basis for state police, while an enabling law to guide its operations will follow.

“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 said.

Gbajabiamila noted that the debate over whether Nigeria should adopt state police has largely been settled, with current discussions focused on establishing safeguards and institutional mechanisms to ensure accountability and prevent abuse.

The outcome of the consultations, he said, would be presented to President Tinubu, who has repeatedly advocated state police as a necessary response to the country’s evolving security challenges.

It would be recalled that the Tinubu administration has intensified consultations with lawmakers, security agencies and other stakeholders amid growing concerns over banditry, kidnapping, communal violence and other criminal activities across the country.

Advocates of state police argue that a decentralised system would bring law enforcement closer to communities, enhance intelligence gathering and improve the protection of lives and property.