State police: Constitutional framework near completion – Presidency

Abuja: The Presidency on Thursday said significant progress has been made towards the establishment of state police, with constitutional amendments required for its implementation expected soon.

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.

He said deliberations on the proposed framework began several months ago following a directive by President Bola Tinubu and had since gained considerable traction.

According to him, establishing state police requires careful consideration of constitutional and legal issues and cannot be implemented hastily.

“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.

“Establishing state police is not something that you do with the snap of a finger. There is a lot involved in terms of constitution and legalities and, 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,” Gbajabiamila said.

He explained that discussions were currently focused on the constitutional amendment process, while the enabling legislation would follow subsequently.

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

“That is what we have been deliberating on in the last couple of hours.’

Gbajabiamila said there was broad national consensus on the establishment of state police, noting that discussions had shifted from whether it should be created to how best to structure and regulate it.

He said Tinubu, who has consistently advocated state police as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s security architecture, would receive a comprehensive report on the outcome of the meeting.

The meeting forms part of ongoing consultations by the Federal Government to develop a workable framework for state policing aimed at strengthening internal security, improving local intelligence gathering and enhancing the capacity of sub-national governments to tackle emerging security threats.

Tinubu has repeatedly argued that a decentralised policing structure is necessary to address Nigeria’s evolving security challenges and improve protection of lives and property across the country.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu and Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, among other senior government officials.