Nigeria can no longer rely solely on a centrally controlled police structure to tackle its growing security challenges, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said.
Gbajabiamila spoke on Monday at a special session of the 66th annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), titled “NBA Takes the Mic: Who Polices Nigeria?”, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Delivering President Tinubu’s message to the legal community, the Chief of Staff said the administration was committed to addressing what it described as a structural weakness in Nigeria’s policing system.
“A country of our size and diversity cannot continue to depend on a single centrally commanded police institution for all its policing needs,” he said.
Gbajabiamila said the current policing arrangement had been “stretched beyond what any institution can reasonably carry”.
He noted that Nigeria’s model differs from other federations, including the United States and Canada, where policing responsibilities are shared between federal and subnational authorities.
According to him, the constitutional prohibition of state police has left Nigeria attempting to meet diverse local security needs through a single national command structure.
“Further postponement is itself a choice. It is the wrong choice, and citizens have carried its consequences for long enough,” he said.
Gbajabiamila stressed that the proposed reform was not an indictment of the Nigeria Police Force, praising officers who continue to serve despite difficult working conditions.
He said any decentralisation of policing must be backed by professional standards, accountability and constitutional safeguards.
A dual policing system, he explained, would enable states that are willing and capable to provide security while preserving a strong federal police service for national and interstate responsibilities.
“Their sacrifice makes reform more urgent, because courage should not have to compensate indefinitely for structural weakness,” he said.
Gbajabiamila said Nigeria currently has approximately one police officer for every 650 citizens, compared with the widely accepted international benchmark of one officer for every 450 people.
Addressing concerns that state police could be abused by governors, he said the proposed system would include institutional safeguards.
He added that both chambers of the National Assembly had approved constitutional amendments to pave the way for the establishment of federal and state police services.
However, he said at least 24 state Houses of Assembly must endorse the proposal before it can proceed to the President for assent.
“No governor should possess the personal power to order the arrest of an opponent, stop an investigation, disperse a lawful meeting or direct how officers act in an election,” he said.
Gbajabiamila urged lawyers to contribute to developing the proposed policing framework, noting that the NBA is represented on both the presidential working group and its policy advisory committee.
