Poor funding could turn state police into “highway to nowhere”, says Senate leader

Opeyemi Bamidele, leader of the Senate, has cautioned that Nigeria’s proposed state police system could become ineffective if it is not insulated from political influence through guaranteed funding and financial autonomy.

Speaking at the ARISE News Town Hall on Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security on Thursday, Bamidele said inadequate funding would expose state police formations to manipulation by politicians, wealthy individuals, business interests, and even criminal organisations, undermining their ability to protect lives and property.

“If the state police is not well funded, it may as well be a highway to nowhere,” he said.

The lawmaker explained that the constitutional amendment currently before the National Assembly is not intended to compel every state to establish its own police force immediately but to create the legal framework that would enable states to do so if they choose.

According to him, the proposal seeks to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby granting states the constitutional authority to establish their own police services.

“It is not every state that will immediately, after we finish amending this constitution, go to town to say, ‘We’re launching our state police.’

“All we are trying to achieve with this constitutional amendment is to move this duty from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List,” Bamidele said.

He acknowledged widespread concerns over the possible misuse of state police, describing them as legitimate given Nigeria’s political history, and stressed the need for robust legal safeguards to guarantee accountability.

“The various concerns that have been expressed from different quarters are well-founded concerns that we cannot sweep under the carpet or pretend that they are not real,” he said.

Bamidele argued that accountability would require not only comprehensive legislation but also sustained oversight by citizens and civil society organisations.

“When it comes to issues of accountability, it’s something that will have to be addressed, both at the level of legislative intervention, through the law, and as well as vigilance on the part of the Nigerian people,” he added.

The Senate leader further warned that the threat of undue influence would extend beyond elected officials if the funding structure remained weak.

“It’s not only state actors or politicians that can abuse this. Business class, some other organisations, and even criminals can abuse it, because he who pays the piper dictates the tune,” he said.

To prevent such interference, Bamidele proposed constitutional and statutory provisions that would guarantee state police a stable source of funding independent of the discretion of state governors.

He suggested allocating a fixed percentage of state budgets to policing through first-line charges, with clear rules governing the disbursement and management of the funds.

“We must have a situation where there will be some first-line provisions in our law. The police chief and the police service commission must have a guaranteed source of income in a way that it will not be subject to the whims and caprices of a sitting governor,” he said.

Bamidele noted that constitutional amendment alone would not be sufficient to establish an effective state policing system, stressing that further legislative reforms would be required to define its operational structure and relationship with existing security institutions.

“We must see beyond constitutional amendment, because once the constitution has been amended, what is next?” he asked.

He said the National Assembly would also need to amend the Police Act and other relevant laws to provide a comprehensive legal framework for state policing.

The Ekiti Central Senator added that lawmakers would have to clarify the future roles of existing paramilitary organisations and determine how they would operate alongside state police formations.

“Also, we must address what becomes of the other organisations, especially including paramilitary organisations that were created for the purpose of helping to maintain law and order,” he said.

Bamidele maintained that the ultimate objective of state police is to strengthen community policing and improve security at the grassroots but warned that the initiative would achieve little without genuine autonomy for local governments.

“The whole essence of trying to emphasise the move for state policing is because we want community policing. If we do not address the issue of local government autonomy, we will not have achieved much, even with the creation of state police,” he said.

He disclosed that the National Assembly had examined international best practices while working on a minimum national standard that would guide the operations of state police across the federation.

While acknowledging that Nigeria’s worsening security challenges have made decentralised policing increasingly necessary, Bamidele insisted that the new system must rest on strong laws, guaranteed funding and effective accountability mechanisms.

“We are at a stage now where we must bring this to reality,” he said.

The campaign for the establishment of state police has gathered momentum amid persistent insecurity and growing calls for a decentralised policing structure capable of responding more effectively to local security challenges.