By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has declared that Nigeria can no longer effectively confront its worsening security challenges under the current centralised policing system.
He insisted that the proposed establishment of a state police force has become an unavoidable national necessity rather than a political option.
In a statement on Sunday, Bamidele defended the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to create state police formations, saying the legislation was carefully designed with robust constitutional safeguards.
He said the measures were to prevent abuse by state governors while enabling faster responses to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
In the statement titled “State Police: Separating Facts from Fictions,” the Senate Leader dismissed criticisms of the proposal as unfounded.
He argued that the country’s changing security realities require a complete overhaul of its policing architecture.
“Nigeria is again at a point of inflexion,” he said. “We all have the duty to confront this reality with facts and not fictions, courage and not trepidation, clarity of purpose and not mere scepticism.”
According to him, the existing police structure has become incapable of adequately responding to the country’s expanding security challenges.
“The present police structure often limits the ability of sub-national authorities to respond effectively and promptly to security challenges within their jurisdictions,” Bamidele said.
He added, “Do we continue with the current police structure? No, we cannot continue with it considering the scale of internal challenges that now threaten our vital, strategic and even peripheral interests more than at any time in our recent history.”
The Senate Leader lamented that despite increased budgetary allocations to the Nigeria Police, recruitment of additional personnel and massive investments in security equipment, insecurity has continued to exact enormous human and economic costs on the country.
He said, “We have increased police budgets annually to ensure their adequate funding. We have recruited more officers to boost police operations.
“We have invested heavily in security equipment to strengthen our combat and reconnaissance capability. Yet, we have not been able to tame the tide of insecurity sufficiently,” he said.
Bamidele noted that violent extremism, banditry, kidnapping and communal conflicts have displaced thousands of families, destroyed businesses and severely weakened local economies across the federation.
He cited estimates indicating that violent extremism in the North-East alone has inflicted economic losses running into about $100 billion, warning that continued insecurity could further undermine Nigeria’s economic growth and human development.
Describing the State Police Bill as “a child of necessity and not political expediency,” Bamidele said the National Assembly acted in fulfilment of its constitutional responsibility to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation.
“Our decision to act and recalibrate our sub-optimal police system did not emanate from mere partisan politics. It arose from the burden of duty that the Constitution places upon the National Assembly,” he stated.
Responding to concerns that governors could misuse state police for political purposes, the Senate Leader said the proposed law contains elaborate safeguards to prevent abuse.
According to him, the Bill establishes an independent State Police Service Commission that will regulate state police operations without interference from governors.
“The Commission will serve as the regulatory authority of the state police system,” he explained, adding that it would be empowered to regulate its own procedures independently and prevent the use of police powers for “partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional or personal purposes.”
Bamidele further disclosed that the legislation guarantees financial autonomy for state police commissions by providing for direct funding to eliminate undue political influence.
He also explained that although governors may nominate commissioners of police, such appointments would only take effect after recommendations from the National Police Council and approval by a two-thirds majority of the State House of Assembly.
Similarly, he said commissioners could only be removed after due process, a recommendation by the National Police Council, and approval by two-thirds of the members of the state legislature.
The Senate Leader stressed that governors would not have the power to order the arrest, detention, or investigation of political opponents.
“No direction shall require the arrest, detention, investigation, non-investigation, deployment or use of force against any named person, political party, association or class of persons except in accordance with law,” he quoted from the proposed constitutional amendment.
He added that the National Assembly would prescribe minimum national standards covering police recruitment, training, discipline, accountability, use of force and operational procedures to ensure uniform professionalism across both federal and state police services.
Bamidele also clarified that federal police intervention in any state would occur only under clearly defined constitutional conditions, including a formal request from the affected state government and written approval from the President.
He said such intervention would only arise where there is a breakdown of public order, collapse of state policing capacity, serious abuse of fundamental rights, electoral intimidation or grave threats to national security.
The Senate Leader disclosed that the proposal emerged after years of constitutional review involving extensive consultations with the Executive, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, the leadership of the Nigeria Police and other stakeholders.
He revealed that public hearings held across the six geopolitical zones in July 2025 yielded overwhelming support for establishing state police.
Bamidele further disclosed that the Nigeria Police itself endorsed the proposal by submitting detailed recommendations that strengthened the accountability mechanisms incorporated into the Bill.
He also revealed that the legislation enjoyed broad bipartisan backing in the National Assembly.
“In the Senate, 84 out of 109 members voted clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06 per cent approval at the Senate alone,” he said.
Urging Nigerians to support the initiative, Bamidele maintained that the proposed state police system offers the country a practical and constitutional solution to its complex security challenges.
