Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff (CoS) to President Bola Tinubu, says Nigeria can no longer rely solely on a centrally controlled police structure to tackle its growing security challenges.
Gbajabiamila spoke on Monday at a special session of the
66th annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) titled
“NBA takes the Mic: Who polices Nigeria?”, in Port Harcourt, the River state
capital.
Delivering Tinubu’s message to the legal community, the
president’s chief of staff 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.
He said 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.
According to him, 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.
Gbajabiamila 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.
According to him, 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.
“Their sacrifice makes reform more urgent, because courage
should not have to compensate indefinitely for structural weakness,” he said.
He said the country 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,
Gbajabiamila said the proposed system would include institutional safeguards.
According to him, both chambers of the national assembly had
approved constitutional amendments to allow for the establishment of federal
and state police services.
He said 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.
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