By Ejike Ejike, James Kwen and Samson Elijah, Abuja
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele on Wednesday outlined constitutional, operational and financial safeguards they said are essential to ensuring the success of state police, insisting that no state should establish a police force without meeting nationally prescribed standards while its funding must be protected from political interference.
Speaking at the Security Roundtable of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, Abbas said the executive bill seeking to establish state police had anticipated concerns that governors or political actors could hijack state police formations and incorporated constitutional safeguards to prevent such abuse.
He said fears that state police could become “the private army of a governor or a political godfather” were legitimate but had been addressed in the proposed constitutional amendment.
“I understand the concern that many people bring to this discussion, and it is a reasonable one. It is the fear that the State Police could become the private army of a governor or a political godfather. The people who drafted this Bill had the same fear, and they answered it,” Abbas said.
According to him, the bill provides that a state’s Commissioner of Police would be appointed on the recommendation of the National Police Council and confirmed by the State House of Assembly, while removal would require a two-thirds majority of the Assembly and only for good cause.
He added that the Constitution would also empower the Federal Police to intervene temporarily where a state police service breaks down or is compromised, subject to strict legal conditions, written authorisation, notification to the governor and the National Assembly within 48 hours, and judicial oversight.
Abbas stressed that no state police service would begin operations until the State House of Assembly enacted the enabling law and the state met the minimum national standards prescribed by the National Assembly.
“A State Police cannot begin to operate until the State House of Assembly creates it by law and until it meets the national minimum standards set by the National Assembly. Until that time, the Federal Police will continue to serve that state,” he said.
He explained that the proposed law clearly separates responsibilities between the Federal Police Service and state police, with the Federal Police retaining responsibility for terrorism, border security, federal offences and policing the Federal Capital Territory, while state police would handle routine law enforcement within their respective states.
Abbas said the bill also establishes an independent State Police Service Commission with direct funding and prohibits the use of police powers for political, ethnic, religious or personal purposes.
Arguing that Nigeria’s centralised policing structure could no longer adequately address the country’s security challenges, Abbas said banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts and attacks on schools require locally driven policing backed by local knowledge and accountability.
He, however, maintained that effective state policing must evolve gradually.
“First, the National Minimum Standards Act must come before the first State Police issues a single directive: standards first, structures after.
“Second, we should move step by step, State by State, learning as Germany and Canada learned, rather than switching on thirty-six new forces on the same day.
“Third, we must settle the question of money from the very beginning, whether through a dedicated policing fund, shared services or federal support tied firmly to standards,” he said.
The Speaker also urged lawmakers and stakeholders to address questions surrounding sustainable funding, inter-agency intelligence sharing, certification of state police services and the role of vigilante groups before the legislation is passed.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for transmitting the executive bill to the National Assembly, describing it as the first concrete presidential effort in three decades to establish state police.
Also weighing in, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the proposed state police system must enjoy financial independence through a constitutional first-line charge to shield it from undue influence by governors, political actors, business interests and criminal organisations.
Bamidele, who is also vice chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, acknowledged that public concerns over the possible misuse of state police were legitimate, given the experience of the regional police during the First Republic.
