Dr. Olisa Agbakoba Advocates for Institutional Independence in State Police Establishment

Nigeria is on the cusp of a significant constitutional reform with the proposed establishment of state police, a move aimed at decentralising security operations to combat pervasive insecurity. However, legal experts, including Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), caution that merely creating state police without robust constitutional safeguards against political interference risks transforming these forces into instruments of oppression. Agbakoba advocates for institutional independence, drawing parallels with the South African model, to ensure that state police serve the populace rather than becoming tools for executive manipulation. The ongoing legislative process, which has seen the passage of a Constitution Alteration Bill by both chambers of the National Assembly, must meticulously embed these protections to prevent the new policing structure from replicating the failures of other state-controlled institutions.

Nigeria stands at a pivotal juncture in its security architecture, with the National Assembly recently passing a Constitution Alteration Bill to pave the way for the establishment of state police. This landmark legislative effort, driven by the escalating security challenges across the nation, seeks to decentralise policing powers that have historically been concentrated at the federal level. The move is widely seen as a necessary step to enhance local responsiveness to crime and improve overall public safety.

While the prospect of state police is largely welcomed, it has simultaneously ignited a crucial debate regarding the potential for abuse. Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, has emerged as a prominent voice, urging the Federal Government to embed comprehensive constitutional safeguards to prevent state police from becoming instruments of political oppression. His concerns highlight the delicate balance between decentralisation for effectiveness and the imperative to ensure institutional independence and accountability.

This article will delve into the constitutional implications of the proposed state police, examining the existing legal framework, the nature of the required amendments, and the specific safeguards advocated by legal scholars like Agbakoba. It will argue that for state policing to genuinely address Nigeria’s security woes and foster democratic governance, its establishment must be accompanied by an unassailable constitutional architecture that insulates it from executive overreach and partisan manipulation.

The current policing structure in Nigeria is fundamentally centralised, with Section 214(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) establishing the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as the sole police force for the entire federation. This provision explicitly prohibits the establishment of any other police force by any state or region. Furthermore, policing and other government security services are placed on the Exclusive Legislative List, granting the National Assembly sole legislative competence over these matters.

This centralised model, a legacy of Nigeria's colonial and military past, has been criticised for its inability to effectively address diverse and localised security threats across a vast and heterogeneous nation. Despite the enactment of the Nigeria Police Act 2020, which aimed to enhance accountability, transparency, and human rights protection, it did not fundamentally alter the centralised command structure. Consequently, state governors, though often designated as chief security officers of their states, possess little operational control over the police personnel deployed within their territories, leading to calls for decentralisation.

The recent legislative push, initiated by President Bola Tinubu's Executive Bill, seeks to amend Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to allow for a multi-tier security system comprising a Federal Police Service, State Police Services, and potentially Local Government Police Services. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, marking a significant step towards this decentralisation.

The core of the debate surrounding state police in Nigeria revolves around the need for constitutional safeguards to prevent the new forces from being co-opted for political ends. Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has vehemently argued that without robust institutional protection, state police could become instruments of political oppression, mirroring the perceived failures of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and local governments, which often lack genuine independence from state executives. He advocates for a constitutional model akin to South Africa's, where key democratic institutions derive their independence directly from the Constitution, ensuring security of tenure, guaranteed funding, and accountability to the legislature rather than the executive.

To achieve this, several constitutional amendments and accompanying legislative frameworks would be critical. Firstly, the current Exclusive Legislative List would need to be altered to move policing to the Concurrent Legislative List, empowering states to legislate on police matters. Secondly, the proposed bill already includes provisions for the creation of State Police Service Commissions, which would be crucial for overseeing recruitment, promotions, and disciplinary actions, thereby insulating these processes from direct gubernatorial interference. Agbakoba specifically proposes a shared appointment and removal process for state police leadership, involving recommendations from the Police Service Commission, appointment by the governor, and confirmation by the State House of Assembly. This tripartite arrangement aims to establish checks and balances against executive capture.

Furthermore, the proposed legislation seeks to address concerns about political abuse by explicitly prohibiting governors from directing state police authorities to target specific individuals, political parties, or groups for partisan, ethnic, religious, or sectional purposes. It also retains extensive emergency intervention powers for the Federal Police Service in cases of breakdown of public order, inability of state police to function effectively, threats to national security, or evidence of serious human rights abuses or unlawful conduct by state policing authorities. While these provisions are positive, their effectiveness in practice will depend on the strength of oversight mechanisms and the political will to enforce them. The bill also provides for a mechanism where a state police commissioner can refer a governor's unlawful directive to the National Police Council for review, with the council's decision being binding.

Comparative analysis with other federal systems, such as the United States, where policing operates at multiple levels (local, county, state, and federal), highlights the importance of clearly defined jurisdictions and robust oversight. The Nigerian context, with its history of political manipulation of security agencies, necessitates even stronger constitutional insulation to prevent state police from becoming instruments for suppressing opposition or influencing electoral outcomes. The financial implications for states, including recruitment, training, infrastructure, and equipment, also present a significant challenge that requires a sustainable funding framework, potentially involving federal grants and aid as suggested in the proposed bill.

The move towards state policing in Nigeria represents a monumental shift in the country's security architecture, offering a potential pathway to more effective and community-responsive law enforcement. The recent passage of the Constitution Alteration Bill by the National Assembly is a testament to the growing consensus on the need for decentralisation to tackle pervasive insecurity.

However, as Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and other legal experts rightly warn, the success of this reform hinges entirely on the constitutional safeguards embedded within the new framework. Practitioners must closely monitor the ongoing legislative process, particularly as the bill moves to the State Houses of Assembly for ratification. The focus must be on ensuring that the final constitutional amendments establish genuinely independent State Police Service Commissions, transparent appointment and removal processes for police leadership, and clear prohibitions against political interference. Without these robust protections, the decentralisation of policing, while well-intentioned, risks exacerbating existing challenges of executive overreach and human rights abuses, ultimately trading one problem for a potentially worse one. Legal professionals have a critical role to play in advocating for and scrutinising these safeguards to ensure that state police truly serve the security and welfare of the Nigerian people.