Abuja
The Federal Government says Nigeria is set for state police to fight rising insecurity, with President Bola Tinubu urging the National Assembly to pass the needed laws quickly.
Information and National Orientation Minister Mohammed Idris made the pledge on Thursday during a meeting with the Centre for Crisis Communication in Abuja. He said decentralised policing is now essential amid banditry, kidnappings, and other threats hitting communities daily.
“It is the desire of President Bola Tinubu to ensure that we have state police as soon as it is practicable,” Idris stated, according to a ministry release. Tinubu has twice appealed to senators this week—first at an iftar with governors on Monday, then directly to Senate leaders on Wednesday—for constitutional changes.
Idris tied the push to better crisis communication in the digital age, where fake news spreads fast during attacks. He backed the centre’s ideas for a National Crisis Communication Hub and performance index to track responses and fight misinformation.
The minister praised ex-DSS boss Maj Gen Chris Olukolade (retd.), who leads the centre, for its training and monthly meetings with security spokespeople. Olukolade thanked Idris and pushed for quick adoption of their November 2025 symposium recommendations on tech like AI for honest, patriotic use.
Lagos State Attorney-General Lawal Pedro (SAN) backed Tinubu strongly in a Thursday statement. He said the single federal police force is overstretched, unable to handle local crimes like cultism, farmer-herder clashes, armed robbery, and ritual killings in neighbourhoods.
“These local crimes have festered because of the inadequacy of the Nigerian Police Force,” Pedro said. He noted Nigeria had regional police in the First Republic, so state forces are not new.
Pedro dismissed fears of governor abuse as real but not enough to stop progress. “What we need is a constitutional framework and safeguards,” he urged, echoing Tinubu.
He proposed shifting policing from the Exclusive to Concurrent Legislative List, creating State Police Service Commissions, clear federal-state roles, and national standards for recruitment, pay, and discipline. Governors would appoint commissioners with assembly approval, slashing insecurity nationwide.
The growing support signals momentum for reform, but it hinges on National Assembly action. With insecurity squeezing everyday life from villages to cities, state police could bring faster response and community trust if safeguards hold.