…as Afenifere, Miyetti Allah warn against abuse
The Senate has stated that it will complete the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to allow the creation of state police before the end of 2026.
The Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, told Sunday PUNCH on Friday that the upper chamber would immediately resume work on the constitutional review once plenary reconvenes next week.
This follows President Bola Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly to begin the process of amending the constitution to incorporate state police as part of efforts to tackle the nation’s insecurity challenges.
Speaking to members of the Senate on Wednesday night during an interfaith breaking of fast at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President said, “What I am asking for tonight is for you to start thinking how best to amend the constitution to incorporate the state police for us to secure our country, take over our forests from marauders, free our children from fear.”
Tinubu, while addressing members of the House of Representatives on Friday, urged them to ensure that the proposed constitutional amendment for the creation of the state police includes safeguards against potential abuse by governors.
He stressed that the establishment of state police should not be “a straight free fall for everybody,” but must be structured with checks and balances drawn from past experiences.
Pledging the Senate’s readiness to fast-track the amendment of the constitution to accommodate state police, Adaramodu noted that significant groundwork had already been done on the proposal before legislative focus shifted to the electoral amendment.
He assured Nigerians that the National Assembly would treat the amendment with urgency and conclude the process before political campaigns begin ahead of the next general election.
“We are going to commence the process of reviewing the constitution for the establishment of state police immediately we resume next week.
“We want to assure Nigerians that before the general election, we would have amended the constitution to allow for the creation of state police. We are going to expeditiously treat the matter. We are giving our assurance that before the end of this year, the amendment will be done so that we can have the state police.
“Before electioneering starts, we would have done and dusted it, then pass it on to Mr President for his assent,” the Senate spokesman said.
Adaramodu disclosed that consultations had been held across the country, including stakeholder meetings in the geopolitical zones and engagements with relevant sectors.
According to him, the committee handling the constitution review has already compiled reports and findings from the consultations.
“Before now, we had already done a lot; we went on a little break for the electoral bill, which has just been signed into law. We were under the pressure of time to deliver the electoral amendment. Then, immediately after that, we have to consider the 2026 Appropriation Bill. That is why we suspended plenary for just a few days. But now that we have dealt with that, we are picking the constitution review immediately,” he added.
Adaramodu described state police as a widely supported proposal, noting that it enjoys backing from key stakeholders in the country.
“State police is a popular demand. The President has signed into it, the state governors too have signed into it, and the National Assembly is in love with it,” he said.
Afenifere, Miyetti Allah warn against abuse
Meanwhile, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, have urged the National Assembly to include strong safeguards in the proposed amendment to prevent governors from abusing the powers of the state police.
The National President of MACBAN, Baba Ngelzarma, said while the creation of state police could help address the country’s security challenges, clear constitutional provisions must be put in place to prevent misuse.
Ngelzarma noted that the country currently faced a shortage of security personnel and that decentralising policing could help improve the response to crime.
“As far as the security situation in the country is concerned, there is definitely a shortage of security personnel. It (state police) is the only avenue that can be used to provide an adequate number of security required in the country to combat the criminalities going on,” he said.
He, however, warned that recruitment into state police must be balanced and reflective of the ethnic and religious diversity within each state to avoid domination by any particular group.
According to him, the recruitment process should be structured to prevent any tribe or religion from gaining undue advantage.
Ngelzarma also cautioned that state police could be exploited by politicians against opponents if adequate constitutional safeguards are not established.
“If recruitment becomes lopsided, instead of solving the problem, it will create more problems. We are in a political era and politicians are going to use it to their own advantage, especially when they want to come back to power. They may use state police against their opponents,” he said.
To address this concern, he urged lawmakers to empower the Federal Government to regulate the activities of state police formations and ensure oversight.
He also suggested that the constitution should provide penalties for any abuse and grant the National Assembly authority to create a supervisory mechanism to monitor the operations of the state police.
Similarly, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, said the proposed reform was necessary given the growing security challenges across the country.
Ajayi noted that many crimes occur at the local level and are best addressed through locally driven security structures.
However, he stressed the need for legal safeguards to prevent governors from misusing state police.
“The National Assembly must make provisions in the bill to limit the powers of governors to curb abuse of state police,” he said.
According to him, citizens should be able to challenge any suspected misuse of state police by governors through the courts.
“Given human nature, it is possible that some governors may want to abuse the power they have over state police, but there must be provisions in the law that will check the possible abuse,” he added.
Also, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Ayodele Arise, called for extensive public enlightenment on the advantages and disadvantages of the state police, saying more efforts must be made to convince those who previously opposed the idea.
Arise, who spoke on Arise TV on Saturday, suggested that the amendment could begin with a review of Section 214 of the Constitution to move policing to the Concurrent List.
“I will suggest to the National Assembly that the area of amendment is section 214, can be done, first by moving policing to the Concurrent List. That will solve the problem; the federal government will have its police, while the states can have their Police. People must understand that the fact that we have State Police doesn’t completely erase the federal police,” he said.
On the timeline, the APC chieftain expressed confidence that the amendment and eventual establishment of state police could be achieved within months, citing the ruling party’s majority in the National Assembly and control of most states.
He also addressed concerns that governors might misuse state police to intimidate political opponents, proposing the establishment of oversight mechanisms to prevent abuse.
(Source: Punch except the headline)
