Nigeria's Top Aide: Central Police Force Can't Meet Security Needs

Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu, said Nigeria can no longer rely solely on a centrally controlled police structure to tackle its growing security challenges. He spoke on Monday at a special session of the 66th annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Delivering Tinubu's message to the legal community, Gbajabiamila said the administration is committed to addressing what it described as a structural weakness in Nigeria's policing system.

"A country of our size and diversity cannot continue to depend on a single centrally commanded police institution for all its policing needs, he said, adding that the existing arrangement had been "stretched beyond what any institution can reasonably carry. Gbajabiamila noted that Nigeria's policing model differs from that of other federations, including the United States and Canada, where policing responsibilities are shared between federal and subnational authorities. He said the constitutional prohibition of state police has left the country trying to meet diverse local security needs through a single national command structure.

"Further postponement is itself a choice. It is the wrong choice, and citizens have carried its consequences for long enough," he said. The chief of staff said the proposed reform is not an indictment of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), praising officers who continue to serve despite difficult working conditions.

He said decentralisation must be accompanied by professional standards, accountability and constitutional safeguards. A dual policing system would allow states that are willing and capable to provide security while preserving a strong federal police service for national and interstate responsibilities, he said. "Their sacrifice makes reform more urgent, because courage should not have to compensate indefinitely for structural weakness," he added.

Gbajabiamila said Nigeria currently has approximately one police officer for every 650 citizens, compared with the widely accepted international benchmark of one officer for every 450 people. On concerns that state police could be abused by governors, he said the proposed system would include institutional safeguards. Both chambers of the national assembly had approved constitutional amendments to allow for the establishment of federal and state police services, he said, and at least 24 state houses of assembly must endorse the proposal before it can proceed to the president for assent.

"No governor should possess the personal power to order the arrest of an opponent, stop an investigation, disperse a lawful meeting or direct how officers act in an election," he said. Gbajabiamila urged lawyers to contribute to the development of the proposed policing framework, noting that the NBA is represented on both the presidential working group and its policy advisory committee.