Insecurity: ‘State police close at hand’ – Presidency

The Presidency has said that the establishment of state police to curtail insecurity in the country is close at hand.

Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents on Thursday after a high-level consultative meeting convened by the Presidency at the State House, Abuja.

Gbajabiamila stated that the Federal Government has made substantial strides toward establishing state police, with a constitutional amendment anticipated in the coming weeks.

According to him, deliberations on the framework for state police began three to four months ago, following a direct order from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“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.

“Thank God we have now gained a lot of traction. Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly, and the details of the amendment will come after that. It is close at hand,” he said.

The Chief of Staff further explained that discussions have now advanced to the stage of fine-tuning the necessary constitutional amendments, after which an enabling law will be enacted.

“Right now, what we are looking at is the constitutional amendment itself, and then the enabling law would follow thereafter,” Gbajabiamila added.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives noted that the national conversation has shifted from whether state police should be established to how best to design its legal and institutional framework, adding that there is broad support across the country for the initiative.