State police won't be governors' private armies, Speaker Abbas assures

Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas has assured Nigerians that proposed constitutional amendments for state police will include safeguards to prevent governors from using them as private armies. He stated the reform aims to bolster community policing while maintaining national oversight.

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I understand the concern that many people bring to this discussion, and it is a reasonable one. It is the fear that state police could become the private army of a governor or a political godfather.

Speaking at the National Security Roundtable in Abuja, Abbas emphasized that the House will rigorously scrutinize the state police bill. He commended President Bola Tinubu for initiating the constitutional amendment, noting it's the first time a sitting president has formally proposed state police legislation after decades of debate.

"For the first time in our history, a sitting president has made state police a central part of national reform. He has done so not with words alone, but with a bill that now sits before the House of Representatives," Abbas said. He acknowledged concerns about potential abuse by governors but stressed that the bill incorporates multiple constitutional safeguards.

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For the first time in our history, a sitting president has made state police a central part of national reform. He has done so not with words alone, but with a bill that now sits before the House of Representatives.

Abbas argued that Nigeria's complex security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, and farmer-herder clashes, necessitate local knowledge and faster responses. He stated that a central police force cannot adequately cover a country of over 200 million people. The proposed legislation would rename the Nigeria Police Force the Federal Police Service, allowing states to establish their own police services, provided they meet national minimum standards set by the National Assembly. The Federal Police would retain responsibility for terrorism, border security, and federal offenses.

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A country as large and as varied as ours cannot be policed forever by one central Force run from the capital. More than 200m people live across our forests, our farmlands, and our borders, and a single force cannot know every community or watch every road.