Nigeria’s 36 governors have agreed that there was a need for state policing in the country, calling for guardrails among other constitutional provisos to guide the proposed establishment of state police.
This is as the governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), reportedly want policing transferred from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List to enable states play a more active role in tackling insecurity in their respective jurisdictions.
They reached this resolution on Wednesday after a meeting in Abuja, which ran till the morning of yesterday. The governors pushed for a framework that required the subnational heads to approach the National Assembly individually for approval would undermine the autonomy, responsiveness and effectiveness of subnational policing structures in addressing local security challenges.
the meeting, the governors unanimously threw their support behind the immediate establishment of state police in the country, stating that such a structure should be constitutionally guaranteed and aligned with federalism and citizens’ rights.
The Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led NGF and the state executives, disclosed that they received a presentation from the Forum’s secretariat and a delegation of the Attorneys-General of the States on efforts to support establishing state police in Nigeria.
According to the state chief executives, there was a dedicated consultation with the attorneys-general to review the proposed constitutional amendments and frameworks.
In the communique read by the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, the Forum noted the need for collaborative effort and added that the consultation outcomes would strengthen states’ collective position.
He said: “We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), at our meeting held today, deliberated on issues affecting the country. Following extensive deliberations, the Forum resolved as follows:
‘’The Forum received a presentation from the NGF Secretariat and a delegation of the Honourable Attorneys-General of the States on efforts to support establishing State Police in Nigeria. It noted a dedicated consultation with the attorneys-general to review the proposed constitutional amendments and frameworks.
“Governors emphasised the need for the State Police to be constitutionally sound and aligned with federalism and citizens’ rights. The Forum noted the collaborative effort and added that the consultation outcomes would strengthen the states’ collective position.”
Top Society recalls that the governors had in April this year backed what they described as the proactive development of a state police framework by the secretariat, the umbrella body of the forum, in preparation for the proposed constitutional amendments.
The framework brought out key readiness requirements, including governance structures, financing models, human capital standards, digital systems and oversight mechanisms.
The House of Representatives on June 11, overwhelmingly voted in favour of a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police across the country, marking a major step in efforts to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.
Also, the bill scaled second reading in the Senate on the same day. In the House of Reps, the bill secured the support of 289 of the 290 lawmakers in attendance, while only one member voted against it during plenary.
