The Presidency has said that significant progress has been made in the proposed establishment of state police, with a constitutional amendment expected soon following ongoing consultations among the Executive, the National Assembly and security agencies.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents after a consultative meeting on the initiative held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said discussions on the creation of state police began about three to four months ago following a directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that the process has now gained substantial progress.
Gbajabiamila noted that the establishment of state police requires careful constitutional and legal consideration and cannot be hurried.
According to him, “Establishing state police is not something you do with the snap of your fingers. There is a lot involved in terms of constitution and legalities, and thankfully we have now gained a lot of traction.”
He added that attention is currently focused on securing the required constitutional amendment, which would be followed by enabling legislation to guide implementation.
“Right now, what we are looking at is the constitutional amendment itself, and then the enabling law would follow thereafter,” he said.
He further explained that there is now broad agreement among stakeholders, stressing that discussions have shifted from whether state police should be created to how the legal and institutional framework will function.
Gbajabiamila said President Tinubu, who has consistently advocated for a decentralised policing structure to improve internal security, would receive a detailed report on the outcome of the meeting.
The consultative meeting is part of ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to develop a workable framework for state police aimed at strengthening internal security, improving local intelligence gathering and enhancing the capacity of sub-national governments to respond to security challenges.
Present at the meeting were the Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu; Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, and other senior officials.
