President Bola Tinubu
African Democratic Congress (ADC) has faulted President Bola Tinubu led Federal Government’s push for state police legislation, describing the process as rushed and driven by panic rather than careful institutional planning.
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party said although it supports the creation of state police, the Tinubu administration’s handling of the proposed reform falls short of the broad consultation required for a constitutional amendment of such magnitude.
According to the party, state police remains a necessary structural reform, but warned that it should not be presented as an immediate solution to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
“The African Democratic Congress (ADC) 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,” the statement said.
The ADC argued that the current move by the government appears to be a reaction to the country’s security challenges rather than a carefully designed reform capable of delivering lasting results.
“What we are witnessing is a hurried response to a worsening security crisis, not the careful institutional planning required to build a functional, accountable, and effective policing system. State police is too important, and the security of Nigerians too urgent, to be reduced to a quick legislative fix or rushed through the National Assembly without the broad consultation such a far-reaching reform demands,” it stated.
The party maintained that decentralised policing is not a new concept, noting that it has featured in Nigeria’s constitutional and political discourse for decades and already enjoys widespread support.
“It is equally important to state that there is nothing novel about the idea of state police. Decentralised policing has been part of Nigeria’s constitutional and political conversation for decades and today enjoys broad national support. 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 statement added.
The ADC also questioned the timing of the proposed constitutional amendment, suggesting that the administration had delayed action until late in its tenure.
“After all, if President Tinubu were genuinely committed to state police, why did it take his administration almost until the end of its tenure to begin rushing through a constitutional amendment?” the party asked.
It further stressed that passing the legislation would only mark the beginning of a much longer process, insisting that critical issues such as recruitment, training, funding, operational structures and independent oversight must first be addressed.
“Nevertheless, passing a law is only the beginning, and probably the easiest part, of a complex process. Recruitment, vetting, training, equipment, funding, command structures, operational guidelines, and independent oversight cannot be created overnight, especially as the country approaches another election cycle. Meanwhile, terrorists, kidnappers, and bandits will not suspend their activities while new institutions are being assembled. Nigerians deserve reforms that are carefully designed to succeed, not reforms designed merely to create the impression that the government is doing something,” the statement said.
The party also raised concerns over safeguards against political interference, asking how state police would be insulated from abuse by state governments.
“The government’s approach also leaves fundamental questions unanswered. What safeguards will prevent state police from becoming instruments of political intimidation? What guarantees exist for genuinely independent state legislatures and judiciaries capable of exercising meaningful oversight? Who will regulate recruitment, deployment, discipline and funding? Where are the accompanying reforms to prosecution, correctional services, forensic capacity and intelligence coordination? These are not secondary questions. They are the difference between building a professional police service and creating another institution that may be vulnerable to abuse,” the statement added.
