ADC supports state police but faults Tinubu’s ‘rushed’ plan

Nigeria's African Democratic Congress (ADC) has voiced support for the establishment of state police forces but strongly criticizes the current administration's approach. The party describes the proposed legislation, championed by President Bola Tinubu, as a "hurried response to a worsening security crisis" rather than a thoughtfully planned constitutional reform.

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The African Democratic Congress supports state police. We have always believed that Nigeria’s policing architecture must evolve to reflect the realities of our federal system. But support for state police cannot be confused with support for the Tinubu administration’s handling of this important national reform.

In a statement released by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC emphasized that while it has consistently backed the idea of state police, the reform requires robust institutional safeguards for professionalism, accountability, and effective oversight. The party argues that presenting state police as an immediate solution to the nation's escalating challenges of terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping is misguided.

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The current effort by the Federal Government amounts to “a hurried response to a worsening security crisis, not the careful institutional planning required to build a functional, accountable, and effective policing system.”

"Support for state police cannot be confused with support for the Tinubu administration’s handling of this important national reform," the statement read. The ADC pointed out that the concept of decentralized policing has been a recurring theme in Nigeria's constitutional discussions for decades, refuting claims that it is a novel initiative by the current government. They stressed that state police is a structural reform whose benefits will materialize over time and cannot single-handedly resolve the current emergency.

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It is equally important to state that there is nothing novel about the idea of state police. What is new is the attempt by the Tinubu administration to package this long-standing national consensus as a bold new initiative and, worse, to present it as a silver bullet for the country’s current security crisis. It is neither. State police is a structural reform whose benefits will only be realised over time. It cannot, by itself, solve today’s emergency.

The party also raised concerns about the speed at which the National Assembly is processing the proposed legislation. The ADC insists that constitutional amendments of such magnitude necessitate extensive public consultation and engagement with stakeholders. They believe the government is rushing the process to create an impression of action on insecurity, rather than undertaking a careful, deliberative reform.

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Legislation with such far-reaching implications for every Nigerian, and one that could fundamentally alter the country’s constitutional architecture, requires broad consultation and careful reflection. Instead, what we are seeing is a government in desperate haste to amend the Constitution in order to create the impression that it is doing something about the country’s worsening insecurity.