President Tinubu Initiates Bill to Establish Nigerian State Police

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has initiated an executive bill to establish state police services in Nigeria to address rising insecurity, specifically targeting kidnapping and banditry. The proposed framework creates a division of labor where state police focus on internal security and public order, while the Nigeria Police Force retains responsibility for national security issues, such as cybercrime and terrorism.

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin described the bill as a strategic reform designed to leverage locally recruited officers who possess specialized knowledge of their community terrains. To prevent ethnic or political abuse, the plan grants the president constitutional authority to intervene via federal police if state operatives intimidate citizens.

Civil society organizations and legal experts have raised concerns regarding the transition. The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre and Sam Amadi argued that the priority should be comprehensive institutional reform rather than a rushed decentralization. Critics warned that without democratic safeguards and professional independence, the move could allow governors to utilize security forces as political weapons, effectively decentralizing abuse rather than improving security.