President Bola Tinubu has renewed his push for the creation of state police, telling leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that decentralised policing “must happen” and revealing that he has already assured United States and European partners of Nigeria’s commitment to the reform.
Speaking on Thursday at the 14th APC National Caucus meeting at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, Tinubu said state police was essential to improving internal security and strengthening governance at the subnational level, as pressure mounts over worsening insecurity across the country.
The president also used the meeting to insist that local government autonomy must work in practice, urging state governors to stop withholding funds meant for local councils, in line with a recent supreme court judgment mandating direct allocations.
Addressing party leaders, Tinubu said he had held extensive discussions with foreign partners and expressed confidence that the APC would deliver the legislative backing required to establish state policing.
“I had a very long discussion with them – US and European partners – and I was bragging to them that we will definitely pass a state police bill to improve security,” he said. “They asked me if I’m confident, and I said yes. I have a party to depend on.”
He urged the ruling party, as Nigeria’s majority political force, to lead by example through reconciliation, accommodation and flexibility at the grassroots, stressing that governors and party leaders must take responsibility for developments in their states and local governments.
On local government autonomy, Tinubu said the supreme court ruling would be meaningless without adequate funding. “There is no autonomy without a funded mandate; give them their money directly. That’s compliance with the supreme court,” he said, amid longstanding allegations that state governments divert council funds through joint accounts.
The president also offered condolences to Bayelsa state following the death of its deputy governor and called for prayers for the country. He appealed for greater inclusion of women in party leadership, urging stakeholders to create more opportunities for female participation.
Vice-president Kashim Shettima warned caucus members that sustaining political dominance would be more difficult than attaining it, even as he projected confidence ahead of the 2027 general election. He pointed to the APC’s expanding footprint across geopolitical zones, describing the party as increasingly pan-Nigerian.
“To succeed is much easier than to maintain that success,” Shettima said, listing the party’s strength across the south-south, north-central, north-west, south-west and north-east. He reassured governors who had recently defected to the APC, including those from Rivers, Enugu, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Taraba states, that they had found a home in the ruling party.
Senate president Godswill Akpabio struck a sombre note, lamenting what he described as “organised and orchestrated insecurity” fuelled by terrorism, banditry and insurgency. He said the situation had plunged many states into mourning and called for unity within the party to confront the challenge.
Akpabio commended Tinubu for the release of more than 100 children recently kidnapped, while urging further efforts to rescue those still in captivity. He disclosed that the Senate had taken what he called “bold decisions” to deter criminality, including moves to classify kidnapping alongside terrorism, which could attract the death penalty once assented to by the president.
The APC national chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, hailed what he described as a surge in the party’s national acceptance, citing high-profile defections, an electronic membership registration drive and plans for a new national secretariat in Abuja’s central business district.
At his first national caucus meeting since assuming office in July, Yilwatda said the party was consolidating its structures nationwide ahead of congresses and a national convention scheduled for March 2026. He claimed the APC now enjoys an overwhelming majority in both chambers of the national assembly and said recent defections underscored its “pan-Nigerian character”.
The caucus meeting, attended by the president, vice-president, governors, national working committee members and other senior figures, precedes a meeting of the party’s national executive committee scheduled for Friday.
