The Presidency has said a constitutional framework for the creation of state police is nearing completion, signalling a significant step towards one of the most far-reaching security reforms proposed since Nigeria’s return to civilian rule.
Officials said consultations involving the executive, the National Assembly and security agencies had made substantial progress in recent months, bringing the long-debated proposal closer to becoming law.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed the development on Thursday after a high-level consultative meeting on state policing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The meeting was attended by senior government and security officials, including the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, and the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu.
According to a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, discussions are now centred on finalising the constitutional amendment required to establish state police forces, with enabling legislation expected to follow.
“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 journalists after the meeting.
“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.”
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said the immediate priority was securing the constitutional changes needed to create the new policing structure before work begins on the accompanying legal framework.
“Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly, and the details of the amendment will come after that,” he said.
“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.”
His comments suggest that policymakers have largely moved beyond debating whether state police should exist and are now focused on designing the legal safeguards, oversight mechanisms and operational structures that would govern the system.
Gbajabiamila said President Bola Tinubu would receive a detailed report on the outcome of the consultations.
The proposal for state police has remained one of the most contentious constitutional issues in Nigeria since 1999. Advocates argue that decentralising policing would improve local intelligence gathering and strengthen responses to security threats, while critics have warned that state governors could misuse such forces for political purposes.
The issue has gained renewed urgency amid persistent insecurity across the country, including insurgency in the north-east, banditry in the north-west and recurring communal violence in parts of the north-central region.
Tinubu has emerged as one of the strongest proponents of the reform, repeatedly urging lawmakers and state governments to support its implementation as part of a broader effort to overhaul Nigeria’s security architecture.
During meetings with governors and legislators, including consultations held during Ramadan iftar gatherings, the president described state policing as a critical component of his administration’s security agenda.
He has also pressed for the rapid development of a workable framework, reiterating the call during discussions with Plateau State stakeholders in April and again in his third anniversary address on 29 May.
If approved, the amendment would mark a historic shift from Nigeria’s long-standing centralised policing model and could fundamentally reshape the relationship between federal and state authorities in the management of security.
