Proposed Decentralised Police System: A Triumph of Federalist Solution

Nigeria is currently engaged in passionate debate over a constitutional proposal to reform its police system, a move that would fundamentally alter the country's law enforcement structure. The proposal targets sections 214 and 215 of the Constitution, aiming to replace the existing framework with a new model.

Under the current constitution, sections 214 and 215 establish a singular Nigeria Police Force, overseen by the Inspector General of Police (IGP). State commands are led by Commissioners of Police (CPs) who report to the IGP. The IGP, in turn, answers to the President or a designated minister. While state governors can issue command instructions to CPs, a proviso in section 215 allows a CP to refuse a governor's command if cleared by a superior at the federal level. Furthermore, subsection 5 of section 215 prohibits judicial review of command instructions given to the IGP or CPs.

“

From the point of view of principle, the new constitutional proposal is a remarkable truimph of federalist solution to a protracted and seemingly impossible constitutional reform – the decentralization of the police system of Nigeria!

The proposed reform would abolish the current Nigeria Police Force and introduce two distinct police organizations: one for the federal government and another for any state government that opts to establish it. This new structure retains the authority of the President and state governors to issue lawful instructions, but limits these instructions to broad policy matters. Crucially, command instructions would be explicitly excluded from the definition of "lawful instructions." The proposal also specifies prohibited instructions, including those that would infringe on citizens' fundamental rights or obstruct political meetings.

This constitutional proposal is being hailed as a significant triumph for federalism, offering a solution to the long-standing challenge of decentralizing Nigeria's police system. The idea of separate federal and state police organizations represents the first such proposal since 1930, when various police formations in colonial Nigeria were merged to create the Nigeria Police Force. The reform signifies a potential paradigm shift in the nation's approach to policing and governance.

“

It is instructive that the proposal to create separate federal and state police organisations is the first of its kind since 1930 when the Nigeria Police Force was created through the merger of several police formations in different parts of the young colonial Nigeria.