By Lukman OMIKUNLE
Thirty state assemblies have endorsed Nigeria’s proposed state police reform as the Tinubu administration seeks private sector support for funding and implementation
State Police: 30 States Back Nigeria’s Constitutional Amendment
Presidency Seeks Private Sector Funding
The proposed establishment of state police in Nigeria has gained fresh momentum, with 30 State Houses of Assembly endorsing the constitutional amendment required to introduce decentralised policing, while the Presidency has urged businesses to help develop a sustainable funding and implementation plan.
Lagos, Ebonyi, Kogi and Niger are among the latest states to approve the proposal, taking the number of supporting assemblies to 30 out of 36. The constitutional amendment requires the concurrence of at least 24 state assemblies, representing two-thirds of the states.
However, the reform still faces legislative and implementation hurdles, including the need to complete the constitutional amendment process and secure presidential assent. Questions also remain over funding, police independence and safeguards against political interference by state governors.
The Presidency’s push for private sector involvement emerged during a plenary session on “Security, stability and economic resilience” at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, urged the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, chambers of commerce and business associations to develop practical proposals for financing and implementing the proposed state police system.
He argued that insecurity imposes costs on businesses beyond expenditure on private security, including abandoned investments, delayed expansion, disrupted supply chains and lost employment opportunities.
“A company can reinforce its perimeter. Its workers still have to travel home, and its suppliers still have to move through the surrounding communities.
“Your long-term security depends on the strength of public institutions beyond your gates,” Gbajabiamila said.
He said Tinubu’s commitment to state police presented an opportunity for the private sector to contribute expertise and resources towards building security institutions capable of protecting investments and strengthening economic resilience.
“I therefore ask the NESG to carry this engagement beyond our meeting. Bring forward a considered private sector contribution on financing and implementing state police, with practical proposals for accountable partnerships.
“Take that work into the legislative process and into your engagement with state governments,” he said.
Gbajabiamila urged business leaders to engage governors and lawmakers, contribute expertise in institutional management, expenditure control and risk assessment, and identify security challenges discouraging viable investments.
He, however, warned that private sector funding must not undermine police independence or give businesses undue influence over investigations.
“Where businesses provide resources, those contributions need published accounts and independent scrutiny.
“Public funding must remain dependable, and a donation must never purchase influence over an investigation or preferential treatment,” he cautioned.
The presidential aide said states seeking to establish their own police services must demonstrate the financial capacity to sustain them beyond the initial purchase of vehicles, uniforms and equipment.
According to him, state governments must be able to meet recurring costs, including salaries, professional training and operational maintenance, warning that inadequate funding could expose police institutions to private influence and unlawful demands on citizens.
He added that federal policing would remain available to states that were not financially or institutionally prepared to establish their own services.
Gbajabiamila had said 24 State Houses of Assembly approved the constitutional amendment as of October 23, before additional states increased the tally. He also disclosed that the Presidential Working Group submitted the draft National Policing Bill and 29 consequential amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice on October 19 for legislative review.
The proposed framework, he said, would include enforceable safeguards, national professional standards, independent oversight and remedies for misconduct.
“A citizen’s entitlement to protection cannot depend on whom he supports or where she comes from,” he said.
In Lagos, the House of Assembly unanimously endorsed the constitutional amendment after cutting short its recess, although Speaker Mudashiru Obasa expressed reservations about the extent of control the proposed framework would leave in the hands of the states.
Obasa said successive assemblies, from the fifth to the 10th, had debated the need for state police, but argued that the current proposal did not fully reflect the states’ aspirations for autonomy over their security services.
“It is unfortunate that what we believe in, our art and intention as well as our aspirations over the years, has not been fully captured in this alteration, even though we are pleased that at the end of the day, we have State Police in view,” he said.
He questioned whether the proposed arrangement would deliver genuine state police, given provisions placing some powers under joint state and federal control, with the federal position prevailing in the event of a conflict.
“I don’t know if it is State Police or an offshoot of the National Police. But whatever it is, I want to state that at least, it is a step forward.
“I want to believe there is hope in the future that further amendments that will give total control to the states will happen,” Obasa said.
The Lagos speaker also advocated parliamentary police to protect legislative institutions and preserve their independence, citing past incidents in which state legislative buildings were allegedly demolished or locked at the instance of governors.
In Ebonyi, all 24 members of the House of Assembly voted in favour of the amendment during plenary at the Assembly Complex on Nkaliki Road, Abakaliki.
Speaker Moses Ije Odunwa said the unanimous endorsement reflected the lawmakers’ commitment to constitutional reforms aimed at strengthening security and protecting lives and property. He added that Ebonyi had previously expressed support for state police during a National Assembly public hearing on constitutional review.
The Kogi State House of Assembly also unanimously approved the amendment after Speaker Aliyu Umar Yusuf urged lawmakers to support the proposal.
Yusuf cited terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts, political thuggery and other crimes as reasons for the need for a more responsive policing structure.
In Niger, Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago announced the passage of the bill in Minna during the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council. He commended Speaker Abdulmalik Sarkindaji and other lawmakers for their deliberations on the proposal.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio also defended the proposed state police system, describing it as a means of strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture rather than replacing the existing federal police.
Akpabio, represented by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, spoke at the 10th convocation of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies and the University of Benin in Abuja, where criminologist Professor Etannibi Alemika delivered a lecture titled “State Police in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects.”
Rejecting Alemika’s criticism that public hearings on the proposal had been inadequate, Akpabio said consultations had been conducted in Abuja and across the six geopolitical zones to allow Nigerians to contribute to the debate.
“The federal police will remain intact. The objective is to complement the work of the existing police force,” he said.
He added that state police would operate under regulatory safeguards and federal oversight, with clearly defined limits on their weapons and powers.
Alemika, however, warned that decentralising policing without effective safeguards could worsen insecurity, particularly in states where governors exercise considerable influence over public institutions.
He argued that creating state police would not, by itself, resolve the underlying causes of insecurity, including unemployment, poverty, inequality, inadequate healthcare, poor education and environmental degradation.
“The solution to Nigeria’s insecurity lies not simply in state police or federal police, but in good governance,” he said.
The professor also questioned whether constitutional provisions would be sufficient to prevent political interference, given governors’ influence over state legislatures, judiciaries and electoral commissions.
The growing number of state endorsements marks a significant step in the push for decentralised policing. However, the proposed reform’s effectiveness will depend not only on completing the constitutional process but also on establishing reliable funding, professional standards and safeguards to ensure that state police serve the public rather than political interests.
