Nigeria’s 36 state governors have intensified calls for greater constitutional authority over security operations within their states as discussions on the establishment of state police gather momentum.
The demand emerged from resolutions reached at a high-level stakeholders’ meeting on state policing, according to a communiqué issued after the gathering.
The meeting, held last week, brought together state Attorneys-General, legal experts, and senior security officials to harmonise proposals for a constitutional and institutional framework for decentralized policing across the country.
A key proposal from the deliberations seeks stronger constitutional recognition of governors’ roles in coordinating security operations at the state level, a move stakeholders believe is critical to addressing the nation’s growing security challenges.
Participants also endorsed a policing model anchored on cooperative federalism, under which federal and state police institutions would operate within clearly defined constitutional and statutory jurisdictions.
Under the proposed arrangement, the Federal Police Service would retain exclusive responsibility for crimes and security matters considered national in scope, while State Police Services would be empowered to prevent, investigate, and support the prosecution of offences within their respective jurisdictions, particularly crimes established under state laws.
The framework further recommends the transfer or restructuring of certain existing policing assets, commands, and facilities to strengthen the operational capacity of state police formations.
To enhance state participation in national security policymaking, stakeholders proposed the inclusion of a rotating representative of state Attorneys-General on the National Police Council.
The meeting also highlighted the importance of sustainable funding mechanisms for state police services, stressing that their effectiveness would depend largely on guaranteed financial support.
Stakeholders warned that without clear constitutional provisions ensuring predictable funding, state police structures could face operational challenges capable of undermining their mandate.
The latest push by governors represents a significant step in ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s security architecture and advance the long-debated establishment of state police across the federation.
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