All 36 state governors in Nigeria have thrown their weight behind the proposed establishment of state police, signaling broad political support for one of the country’s most significant security reforms in decades.
Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji said on Wednesday that governors across the federation were committed to ensuring the constitutional amendment creating state police receives speedy approval once transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly.
Speaking to journalists after presenting his Certificate of Return for a second term to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Oyebanji said the reform had the backing of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the National Economic Council.
“We are ready for state police. We are thankful to the National Assembly for the constitutional amendments, and we are waiting for them to be transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly,” Oyebanji said.
“The governors have made up their minds that they are going to give it speedy approval so that we can start implementation.”
According to the governor, the National Economic Council had already deliberated on the proposal, with most states formally expressing support for the creation of state-controlled police forces.
The proposed decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing system is widely viewed as a major institutional reform aimed at strengthening internal security, improving local law enforcement, and responding more effectively to regional security challenges.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele described the establishment of state police as an unavoidable response to Nigeria’s evolving security realities rather than a political initiative.
“It is important that we all know that state police is a child of necessity. It is no longer about political interests or politics. All of us are on the same page that there is a need for this,” Bamidele said.
Nigeria currently operates a centrally controlled police system, a structure that has faced increasing criticism amid rising incidents of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and communal violence across several parts of the country.
Addressing concerns that state governors could misuse state police for political purposes, Bamidele said lawmakers were incorporating constitutional and legal safeguards to ensure accountability and prevent abuse.
He acknowledged that such concerns were legitimate but stressed that the National Assembly was designing mechanisms to minimise political interference.
“We are putting mechanisms in the law, as we are amending the Constitution, that will prevent or minimise instances of abuse by state governors,” he said.
Bamidele explained that while the Constitution would establish the legal foundation for state police, more detailed operational guidelines would be introduced through amendments to the Police Act after the constitutional changes are completed.
According to him, the Police Act will contain detailed provisions governing recruitment, operations, oversight and accountability that cannot be fully accommodated within the Constitution.
Bamidele said the widespread backing from state governors reflected a growing national consensus that decentralised policing is necessary to improve security across Africa’s most populous nation.
He expressed confidence that state legislatures would approve the constitutional amendment quickly once it is forwarded by the National Assembly, paving the way for implementation of state police across Nigeria.
If approved by the required number of state assemblies and signed into law, the reform would mark one of the most consequential changes to Nigeria’s security architecture since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.