The United Kingdom has endorsed Nigeria’s renewed drive to establish state police forces, describing the proposed constitutional reforms as a significant step towards creating a more accountable, responsive and community-based policing system, as senior lawmakers sought to allay fears that the new security structures could be exploited for political purposes.
The endorsement came on Wednesday at the National Security Roundtable, held as part of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, where legislators, security chiefs, governors, ministers and international development partners met to examine reforms aimed at addressing Nigeria’s worsening security crisis.
The event, supported by the UK government-funded Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRiNG) programme, focused on state policing, security sector reform, institutional accountability and the legislative framework underpinning one of the country’s most ambitious constitutional amendments since the restoration of democratic rule in 1999.
The proposal to create state police has dominated Nigerian political debate for more than two decades. Supporters argue that decentralising policing would improve intelligence gathering and enable faster responses to local security threats, while critics warn that governors could misuse state-controlled police forces to suppress political opponents.
Momentum behind the proposal has accelerated since President Bola Tinubu submitted an executive bill to the National Assembly seeking constitutional amendments that would permit states to establish and manage their own police services.
In a statement issued ahead of the roundtable, the British High Commission said the discussions were expected to inform legislative reforms surrounding the proposed creation of state police.
Cynthia Rowe, the head of development cooperation at the British High Commission, said lasting security reforms depended on institutions that were transparent, accountable and capable of responding to citizens’ needs.
“Sustainable security requires strong, accountable institutions that are responsive to the needs of the people,” she said.
“The UK government remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s legislative frameworks to ensure that security interventions are transparent, well-resourced and firmly rooted in respect for human rights. This roundtable is a commendable step towards codifying reforms that will protect vulnerable communities and foster long-term stability.”
The High Commission noted that the meeting brought together some of Nigeria’s most senior security officials, including the national security adviser, the chief of defence staff, the inspector general of police and the ministers responsible for defence, interior and police affairs, alongside members of the National Assembly’s security committees.
Governors from Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Zamfara, Niger and Borno states also attended, reflecting growing concern over insecurity across different regions of the country.
According to the organisers, the objective was to assess Nigeria’s evolving security landscape and identify the legislative and budgetary reforms required to strengthen security institutions while supporting the proposed state policing framework.
Ukoha Ukiwo, team leader of the SPRiNG programme, said the organisation’s peacebuilding work had consistently shown that operational security reforms required a strong legal foundation.
“Our work across our state compacts has continually highlighted that operational peacebuilding must be backed by robust legal frameworks,” he said. “By bridging the gap between grassroots realities and legislative action, we can ensure that informal and formal security architectures work cohesively to build resilience in communities across Nigeria.”
Discussions also examined responses to banditry, kidnapping and farmer-herder violence, with participants advocating greater use of technology, intelligence sharing and community engagement to improve security outcomes.
Addressing the roundtable, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, described the proposal as one of the most consequential constitutional reforms currently before parliament.
He praised Tinubu for becoming the first Nigerian president to formally transmit an executive bill seeking the establishment of state police.
“For the first time in our history, a sitting president has made state police a central part of national reform,” Abbas said. “He has done so not with words alone, but with a bill that now sits before the House of Representatives.”
Acknowledging widespread concerns that governors might transform state police into political instruments, Abbas insisted the proposed legislation had been deliberately designed to prevent such abuse.
“I understand the concern that many people bring to this discussion,” he said. “It is the fear that state police could become the private army of a governor or a political godfather.”
He argued that Nigeria’s population of more than 200 million and increasingly localised security threats had exposed the limitations of a centrally controlled police force.
“A country as large and as varied as ours cannot be policed forever by one central force run from the capital,” he said.
Under the proposed constitutional amendment, the Nigeria Police Force would become the Federal Police Service, while states choosing to establish their own police organisations would be required to do so through legislation passed by their respective Houses of Assembly.
Abbas said no state police service would become operational until it satisfied nationally prescribed standards, while the federal police would retain responsibility for terrorism, border security, federal offences and policing the Federal Capital Territory.
He added that state commissioners of police would be appointed on the recommendation of the National Police Council and confirmed by state legislatures, while removal from office would require a two-thirds majority of the relevant House of Assembly.
The proposed amendment would also empower the federal police to intervene if a state police service collapsed or was unlawfully deployed, subject to constitutional safeguards, legislative notification and judicial oversight.
Abbas further advocated a phased implementation of state policing, arguing that states should demonstrate institutional readiness before establishing their own forces.
“We should move step by step, state by state, learning as Germany and Canada learned, rather than switching on 36 new forces on the same day,” he said.
He also warned that sustainable funding would be critical to the success of the reforms, arguing that states should not establish police services they could not afford to maintain.
Echoing those concerns, Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the National Assembly was developing constitutional safeguards to guarantee both the operational independence and financial autonomy of state police services.
He acknowledged that public scepticism over the proposal was rooted in Nigeria’s experience during the First Republic, when regional police forces were frequently accused of serving partisan interests.
“Nearly all public concerns on the state police proposal are well founded,” Bamidele said.
Among the measures under consideration, he disclosed, is a proposal to make funding for state police services a first-line constitutional charge, similar to arrangements protecting judicial funding, thereby preventing governors from withholding resources for political reasons.
“It should not be at the discretion of a governor entirely whether he wants to fund state police service or not,” he said. “We must prevent such a situation.”
Bamidele also cautioned that inadequate funding could expose state police to influence from wealthy individuals, criminal organisations and other vested interests.
“If a state police service is not well funded by any means, it may as well be a highway to nowhere,” he said.
The renewed push for state police comes against the backdrop of persistent insecurity across Nigeria, including bandit attacks in the north-west, insurgency in the north-east, widespread kidnappings for ransom, farmer-herder violence and growing communal conflicts.
Advocates argue that decentralised policing would improve intelligence gathering and strengthen community trust by allowing officers recruited from local communities to respond more effectively to local threats. Opponents, however, continue to warn that devolving police powers could undermine democratic accountability if adequate constitutional safeguards are not enforced.
With both chambers of the National Assembly expected to continue deliberations on Tinubu’s executive bill in the coming months, the debate over state policing is entering its most decisive phase since Nigeria returned to civilian rule more than a quarter of a century ago.
