The agenda for state police has received boost with the Inspector General of Police (IG), Tunji Disu, proposing a robust roadmap for the actualisation of the project. The framework, which has reportedly been submitted to the National Assembly, as part of ongoing efforts to decentralise policing and strengthen internal security, contains a bold funding structure, a 60-month phased implementation template, beginning with constitutional amendments within the first year, as well as mechanisms against abuse of the initiative by political office holders and interest groups.
By Emeka Alex Duru
The agenda for state police has received boost with the Inspector General of Police (IG), Tunji Disu, proposing a robust roadmap for the actualisation of the project. The framework, which has been submitted to the National Assembly, as part of ongoing efforts to decentralise policing and strengthen internal security, contains a bold funding structure, a 60-month phased implementation template, beginning with constitutional amendments within the first year, as well as mechanisms against abuse of the initiative by political office holders and interest groups.
Among the key recommendations in the document is that about 60 per cent of the existing police personnel would move to state police, while 40 per cent would remain within the federal structure.
Central to the proposal is the creation of a constitutionally guaranteed State Police Fund, which will draw three per cent of the Federation Account allocation, alongside a mandatory minimum contribution of 15 per cent from each state’s security budget. The funding model is designed to ensure transparency, sustainability, and operational independence of state police commands.
The framework further outlines a two-tier policing structure that will effectively restructure Nigeria’s security system into a Federal Police Service (FPS) and 37 State Police Services, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). While the FPS would focus on issues of national security as terrorism, interstate crime, and protection of federal assets, state police formations would deal with localised crimes, including armed robbery, homicide, domestic violence, and community-level intelligence gathering.
The framework also identified community policing as the operational nerve centre of the entire system. In this regard, each state police command would be required to establish a Department of Community Policing, with structured forums at every level of local government.
To guard against the governors misusing the police structures for political ends, the document introduced robust constitutional and institutional safeguards, amongst which is the establishment of independent State Police Service Commissions, that are insulated from gubernatorial interference but empowered to handle recruitment, promotions, and discipline.
Towards ensuring accountability, the framework recommended the creation of State Police Ombudsmen, mandatory use of body-worn cameras, and the deployment of public performance dashboards to track use-of-force incidents and community satisfaction metrics. At the federal level, the document recommends the creation of a National Police Standards Board (NPSB), a 13-member independent body to set and enforce uniform standards across federal and state police formations.
For ease of operation and seamless transition, the proposal sets out a 60-month phased implementation roadmap, beginning with constitutional amendments within the first year. Subsequent phases would involve the establishment of state commands, gradual transfer of personnel, and eventual withdrawal of the federal police from routine local policing duties.
Initiative in order
The initiative is timely and commendable. The clamour for state police is not new. Few topics have perhaps, generated debates in recent time as the need or otherwise of state police in the face of crippling regime of insecurity plaguing the nation. Though with legitimate fears of likely abuse of the initiative by the state governors, many are of the view that the current centralised system of policing has become inadequate in protecting the citizens from common criminals and organized gangs. Thus, the clamour for state police has become an issue that the country cannot successfully run away with. In other words, it is a project whose time has come.
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For years, stakeholders across the land have argued that Nigeria’s federal structure is incompatible with a unitary policing system that is not adequately staffed. Nigeria, with an estimated 200 million population, currently has a police strength of about 370,000 officers, representing one officer to 600 citizens – a far cry from the United Nations-recommended ratio of one police officer to 450 citizens.
The unceasing insurgency in the North-east to the ravaging banditry in the North-west and raging communal unrest in other regions, have also exposed the obvious limitations of central policing arrangement in areas of slow response, poor intelligence gathering, and diminishing community trust in law enforcement.
The present Police Force is too regimented and over stretched for effective response to the changing phases of criminality in the country. Every crime is local. Being closer to the people, the personnel have the advantage of intelligence and early detection of crime and prompt response to security matters.
Tinubu makes endorsement
The security situation in the country points to need for state police. It was therefore not surprising President Bola Tinubu, has dropped hints on readiness of his administration to create state police as a measure in addressing the security challenges across the country.
Tinubu who made the declaration during a meeting with Katsina elders over the rising spate of insecurity in the state, noted that security challenges in some states would require the deployment of outfits that understand the terrain, respect the local culture, and can easily connect at the grassroots. The President stated; “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create a state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, people, livelihood, places of worship, and recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us”. The proposal comes months after the President had earlier mooted the idea.
Ohanaeze, Afenifere, MBF, PANDEF, Governors sign in
Leading socio-political groups, civil society organisations, ex-service men and women, have also called for the implementation of the idea. Apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, its Yoruba counterpart, Afenifere, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Middle Belt Forum (MBF) as well as the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), are among regional and political groups that have joined in the demand.
National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, had observed that current policing in Nigeria is not in line with true federalism. On its part, PANDEF said the establishment of state police is long overdue, urging the FG to order a constitutional amendment to give effect to it. Ohanaeze and Afenifere have equally argued on that line. Security experts also argue that decentralisation of the current police structure could enable states respond more quickly and fashion out strategies to meet local needs.
The clamour for state police had earlier received endorsement with the 36 state governors submitting their positions on the proposal last year and majority agreeing on it. Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, who disclosed the stance of his colleagues on the matter, said nearly all the states had bought into the proposal, signaling a strong consensus on it.
He explained that the states agreed on the experiment due to the unique security challenges confronting the regions and the glaring inadequacies in the current national security framework. A decentralised policing system, according to the governor, would enable states fashion out security measures to their specific needs, thereby enhancing the overall safety of citizens.
State police to the rescue?
State or multi-layered policing is an arrangement which time and circumstances have made ideal. The recommendation by the IGP Disu, if well managed and properly implemented, can provide in crime detection and prevention in the country. Let the process be seamless. We urge the National Assembly to initiate processes relevant to amendments to the 1999 Constitution, particularly Section 214, to allow the coexistence of Federal and State Police and to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List. There have been so much lethargy and prevarication on state and community policing by successive administrations in the land. This is the time to give the project the attention it deserves. The idea is even belated.