The Presidency has said the constitutional process to create state police in Nigeria is approaching completion, following intensified consultations among key government stakeholders.
According to The Punch, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known on Thursday while speaking to State House correspondents after a high-level consultative meeting on state policing held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In a related statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled ‘State Police constitutional framework near completion-Presidency,’ the government said discussions had reached an advanced stage after months of engagement.
The meeting brought together the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; and the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, alongside other senior security and government officials.
Gbajabiamila explained that the process had moved steadily over the past few months and was now focused on finalising the legal structure required for implementation.
“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 the fingers.
“There is a lot involved in terms of constitution and legalities, and thank God we have now gained a lot of traction,” the Chief of Staff said.
He added that the focus of current discussions was no longer on whether state police should be created, but on designing the constitutional and institutional framework that would guide its operation.
According to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, “Hopefully, the amendment will come shortly, and the details of the amendment will come after that.
“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 further disclosed that President Bola Tinubu would be presented with a full report from the meeting.
The proposed state police system has remained a major constitutional debate since the return to democracy in 1999, with earlier concerns, particularly from some northern governors and civil society groups, centred on the risk of political misuse by state authorities.
However, President Bola Tinubu has consistently advocated its creation, arguing that it is necessary to address worsening insecurity, including insurgency in the North-East, banditry in the North-West, and recurring communal clashes in the North-Central.
During separate engagements with governors and lawmakers at Ramadan Iftar dinners, he urged the National Assembly to back the reform as part of broader security restructuring.
He also reiterated the push during a stakeholder meeting in Plateau State in April and restated the urgency in his May 29 anniversary address.
