ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The African Democratic Congress, ADC, on Friday backed the creation of state police but accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of rushing a constitutional amendment without putting in place the institutional safeguards needed to make the reform effective.
The opposition party said while it has consistently supported decentralised policing as part of Nigeria’s federal structure, the current push by the Federal Government appears to be a hurried response to the country’s worsening insecurity rather than a carefully planned constitutional reform.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party warned that state police should not be presented as an immediate solution to the country’s escalating challenges of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
“The African Democratic Congress supports state police. We have always believed that Nigeria’s policing architecture must evolve to reflect the realities of our federal system. But support for state police cannot be confused with support for the Tinubu administration’s handling of this important national reform,” the statement said.
According to the ADC, the Federal Government’s current approach amounts to “a hurried response to a worsening security crisis, not the careful institutional planning required to build a functional, accountable, and effective policing system.”
The party also dismissed attempts to portray state police as a fresh policy initiative, arguing that decentralised policing has remained a recurring issue in Nigeria’s constitutional debate for decades.
“It is equally important to state that there is nothing novel about the idea of state police.
READ ALSO Disu Inaugurates State Police Committee
“What is new is the attempt by the Tinubu administration to package this long-standing national consensus as a bold new initiative and, worse, to present it as a silver bullet for the country’s current security crisis. It is neither. State police is a structural reform whose benefits will only be realised over time. It cannot, by itself, solve today’s emergency,” the statement added.
The ADC further criticised the pace at which the National Assembly is considering the constitutional amendment, insisting that a reform of such magnitude requires extensive consultations with Nigerians and key stakeholders.
“Legislation with such far-reaching implications for every Nigerian, and one that could fundamentally alter the country’s constitutional architecture, requires broad consultation and careful reflection.
“Instead, what we are seeing is a government in desperate haste to amend the Constitution in order to create the impression that it is doing something about the country’s worsening insecurity,” the party stated.
Questioning the timing of the initiative, the ADC asked why the Tinubu administration waited until the latter part of its tenure before attempting to fast-track the constitutional amendment.
“After all, if President Tinubu were genuinely committed to state police, why did it take his administration almost until the end of its tenure to begin rushing through a constitutional amendment?” it queried.
The party argued that even if the proposed legislation eventually becomes law, establishing effective state police services would take years because states would still have to recruit personnel, provide training, secure sustainable funding, procure equipment, build operational structures and establish independent oversight mechanisms.
It also expressed concern over what it described as the absence of clear constitutional safeguards to prevent abuse of state police by political office holders.
“What safeguards will prevent state police from becoming instruments of political intimidation? What guarantees exist for genuinely independent state legislatures and judiciaries capable of exercising meaningful oversight? Who will regulate recruitment, deployment, discipline and funding?” the statement asked.
According to the ADC, resolving these issues is essential if state police is to strengthen security instead of becoming another tool for political manipulation.
The party also maintained that creating state police should not replace efforts to reform the Nigeria Police Force, stressing that the federal police would continue to shoulder critical responsibilities such as counterterrorism operations, intelligence coordination and tackling interstate crimes.
It added that meaningful policing reforms must also include improvements in the judiciary, prosecution system, correctional services, intelligence gathering and forensic capacity.
“The ADC will support measures that genuinely strengthen Nigeria’s security. But we will continue to oppose every attempt to substitute the hard work of building institutions capable of keeping Nigerians safe with mere political theatre,” the statement concluded.
The National Assembly is currently considering constitutional amendments that would empower states to establish their own police services, a proposal that has reignited debate over the best approach to addressing Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
While supporters believe decentralised policing will improve local intelligence gathering and speed up responses to crime, critics continue to raise concerns over the possibility of political interference and whether many states have the financial capacity to sustain independent police formations.