(SINL NIGERIA) The Presidency on Thursday announced that significant progress has been made toward the establishment of state police in Nigeria, with a constitutional amendment expected soon following extensive consultations among the Executive, the National Assembly, and security stakeholders.
Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this while briefing State House Correspondents after a consultative meeting on state police convened by the Presidency at the State House, Abuja.
According to Gbajabiamila, discussions on the proposed state police framework commenced several months ago following a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and have since recorded substantial progress.
He noted that the creation of state police involves complex constitutional and legal considerations that require careful deliberation and broad stakeholder engagement.
“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,” he said.
“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, and the details of the amendment will come after that.”
The Chief of Staff explained that discussions have now advanced to the stage of considering the required constitutional amendments, while enabling legislation to operationalise the framework would follow subsequently.
“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.
Gbajabiamila emphasized that there is broad national consensus on the need for state police, stressing that current discussions are focused not on whether the system should be adopted but on developing an effective legal and institutional structure to support its implementation.
He further revealed that President Tinubu would receive a comprehensive report on the outcome of the consultations.
The meeting forms part of ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to develop a workable framework for state police, an initiative aimed at strengthening internal security, improving intelligence gathering at the grassroots level, and enhancing the capacity of state governments to respond to emerging security threats.
