Federal Government revealed significant progress has been made toward the establishment of state police, with a constitutional amendment expected soon following months of consultations involving the Executive, the National Assembly and security agencies.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents after a consultative meeting on state police at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, discussions on the proposed state police framework began several months ago on the directive of President Bola Tinubu and have now reached an advanced stage.
“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 said.
He noted that establishing state police requires extensive constitutional and legal considerations, stressing that the process cannot be rushed.
“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.”
Gbajabiamila expressed optimism that the constitutional amendment needed to create state police would soon be unveiled.
“Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly, and the details of the amendment will come after that,” he added.
The Chief of Staff explained that current efforts are focused on the constitutional amendment, while enabling legislation would follow afterward.
“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 said the issue is no longer whether Nigeria should have state police, but how to establish a legal and institutional framework that would ensure its effective operation.
Gbajabiamila added that President Tinubu, a longstanding advocate of state police, would be briefed on the outcome of the consultations.
The meeting forms part of ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to develop a workable framework for state policing as a strategy to strengthen internal security, improve intelligence gathering and enhance the ability of state governments to tackle emerging security threats.
Among those who attended the meeting were Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, and Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu, alongside other senior government officials.