Femi Gbajabiamila, Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, has warned against granting state governors unfettered operational control over police services under the proposed state policing system.
Gbajabiamila said the reform must address not only the question of who would police communities, but also “who polices the police?”
Speaking on Monday at the second plenary session of the Nigerian Bar Association’s 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, he said governors could set broad security priorities and seek legislative approval for resources but should not have personal powers to order arrests, halt investigations, disperse lawful gatherings or direct police operations during elections.
“The law must draw that line through institutions, not through promises,” he said.
Gbajabiamila, who is also Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said the proposed dual policing structure, comprising Federal and State Police Services, was intended to address the weaknesses of Nigeria’s highly centralised policing system.
He stressed the need for safeguards to protect police officers who refuse unlawful orders, as well as independent mechanisms for investigating serious misconduct involving senior officers.
According to him, appointments and removals within the police must not be used as tools for rewarding political loyalty.
He also called for measures to prevent officers dismissed from one police service over brutality, extortion or other criminal conduct from simply resurfacing in another jurisdiction.
Gbajabiamila described the proposed reform as one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s constitutional and security framework since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
He said the reform would go beyond establishing 36 additional police departments, requiring instead a fundamental redesign of how lawful force is organised, exercised and held accountable across the federation.
On the constitutional process, Gbajabiamila said both chambers of the National Assembly had approved proposed amendments to enable the establishment of Federal and State Police Services.
However, he noted that the amendment must still pass through the remaining constitutional procedures before state police can become operational.
“The National Assembly must complete any remaining harmonisation and transmit a common text to the State Houses of Assembly. At least 24 of the 36 State Houses must approve the amendment before it can proceed for presidential assent.
“Until those steps are completed, state police remains a proposal,” he said.
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