State police: Constitutional amendment nears completion, says Presidency
The Presidency on Thursday disclosed that efforts to amend the Constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police are nearing completion.
It said consultations involving the Executive, the National Assembly and security agencies have recorded significant progress after months of deliberations.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known while briefing State House correspondents following a high-level consultative meeting on state police held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The development was also contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled “State Police Constitutional Framework Near Completion – Presidency.”
The meeting was attended by the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu; and other senior government officials.
Gbajabiamila explained that work on the constitutional framework had gathered momentum and that the enabling legislation required to operationalise state police would follow immediately after the amendment process.
“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 constitutional and legal considerations, and thank God we have now gained a lot of traction,” he said.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives expressed optimism that the constitutional amendment would soon be concluded.
“Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly, and the details of the amendment will come after that.
“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.
According to him, discussions have moved beyond the question of whether state police should be established and are now focused on developing the legal and institutional framework required for its operation.
Gbajabiamila further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu would be presented with a comprehensive report on the outcome of the meeting.
The push for state police has remained one of Nigeria’s most debated constitutional issues since the return to democratic rule in 1999. While advocates argue that decentralised policing would strengthen security and improve local intelligence gathering, critics, including some northern governors and civil society groups, have raised concerns about possible abuse by state governments.
President Tinubu has, however, consistently advocated the creation of state police as part of broader efforts to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West and communal conflicts in the North-Central region.
During separate engagements with governors and lawmakers, including Ramadan Iftar meetings earlier this year, the President urged the National Assembly to support the initiative, describing it as a critical component of his administration’s security reforms.
He also directed relevant stakeholders to expedite work on the framework during a meeting with Plateau State stakeholders in April and reiterated the call in his third anniversary address on May 29.
This version improves flow, clarity, grammar and newsroom style while preserving all key facts and quotations from the original report.