ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Federal Government of Nigeria has reached a critical breakthrough in its ongoing legislative and administrative efforts to fundamentally restructure the nation's internal security architecture. Following months of intensive, high-level consultations involving the executive branch, leadership elements of the National Assembly, and the country's top security chiefs, officials confirmed that comprehensive plans to establish state policing structures have gained significant momentum, with a formal constitutional amendment expected to be presented before the parliament in the near future.
The definitive update regarding the status of the highly anticipated security reform was disclosed to the public on Thursday afternoon by the Chief of Staff to the President, Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila. Speaking during a comprehensive press briefing with State House Correspondents immediately after the conclusion of a high-level consultative meeting convened by the Presidency at the State House in Abuja, Gbajabiamila revealed that the legal blueprints for the decentralization of the police force have successfully moved past initial ideological debates and are now firmly entering the legislative drafting phase.
According to the Chief of Staff, the structural deliberations focused on designing a viable, legally sound framework for localized law enforcement began several months ago under a direct, urgent executive directive issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While acknowledging that public anxiety over rising security challenges has created a demand for rapid implementation, Gbajabiamila took great care to explain that the formal establishment of independent sub-national policing bodies requires an exhaustive consideration of complex constitutional, statutory, and logistical issues, emphasizing that such a profound administrative transformation cannot be implemented hastily or carelessly.
"We started intensive, structured deliberations approximately three to four months ago regarding the precise operational and legislative methods required to execute the establishment of state police forces across the federation, strictly in line with the direct instructions provided by Mr. President," Gbajabiamila explained during his media address. "It is absolutely vital for the general public to recognize that establishing state police is not an administrative action that can be achieved with the simple snap of a finger. There is an immense amount of legal complexity involved in terms of amending the supreme constitution of our republic and harmonizing subsequent legal codes. Fortunately, through dedicated inter-agency collaboration, we have now gained a tremendous amount of institutional traction."
The Chief of Staff further clarified that the technical discussions between the various branches of government have now officially advanced to the point of modifying the primary text of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He noted that the legislative roadmap is structured in two distinct phases, with the immediate focus centering on securing the broad constitutional amendment required to strip the federal government of its exclusive jurisdiction over policing matters. Once that constitutional hurdle is successfully cleared, the National Assembly will immediately pivot toward drafting and enacting the comprehensive enabling legislation that will dictate the precise limits, funding mechanisms, and operational boundaries of the state-level forces.
"Right now, the analytical work we are performing is focused squarely on the constitutional amendment itself, ensuring that it passes through the legislative chambers smoothly," Gbajabiamila stated. "The specific enabling laws, which will outline the day-to-day administrative rules and jurisdictional oversight, will follow immediately thereafter. This dual-phase approach has been the core subject of our intensive deliberations over the last couple of hours within the State House."
The Presidential representative strongly highlighted that a significant shift in national consensus has occurred regarding the controversial issue, noting that there is now a broad, bipartisan national support structure underlying the initiative. Gbajabiamila emphasized that the political debate across Nigeria's diverse geopolitical zones is no longer anchored around the existential question of whether state policing should be permitted to exist. Instead, the current discourse has successfully shifted toward a practical, problem-solving focus centered on creating the appropriate legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks to ensure the operation of these forces remains professional, transparent, and entirely free from political manipulation by sub-national actors.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has historically emerged as one of the country's most vocal and consistent advocates for the decentralization of public safety structures, is scheduled to receive a comprehensive, actionable report detailing the full outcomes and resolutions reached during Thursday’s consultative session. Over the preceding months, President Tinubu has consistently argued before national and international audiences that the introduction of a decentralized policing structure represents an indispensable, modern response to Nigeria’s evolving internal security landscape. The presidency maintains that a localized security apparatus will dramatically improve grassroots intelligence gathering, foster deeper communal trust, and drastically enhance the structural capacity of sub-national state governments to proactively respond to emerging criminal threats within their immediate borders.
The high-profile consultative meeting featured a powerful assembly of the nation's premier political and security leadership, demonstrating the institutional weight backed by the administration. Prominent attendees actively participating in the policy drafting session included the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau; the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honorable Benjamin Kalu; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi; and the newly appointed Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, alongside a select cohort of senior legal advisers and national security experts. This collaborative presence of both parliamentary leaders and top law enforcement officials signals an unprecedented alignment between the executive and legislative arms of government, clearing the path for swift legislative passage once the amendment bill is officially laid before the national assembly.
