By Aaron Ossai
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, on Wednesday commended President Bola Tinubu for transmitting an Executive Bill seeking to establish state police, describing the proposal as a landmark reform aimed at addressing Nigeria’s growing security challenges.
Speaking at the National Security Roundtable held as part of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, Hon. Abbas said the bill represented the first time a sitting President had made state policing a central constitutional reform.
He praised Tinubu for taking what he described as a bold step after decades of debate on decentralising policing, adding that the proposal would allow the National Assembly and Nigerians to determine the future of the country’s security architecture.
The Speaker said Nigeria’s security realities, including banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder conflicts and attacks on schools, had exposed the limitations of relying on a single centrally controlled police force.
“A country as large and as varied as ours cannot be policed forever by one central force run from the capital,” he said.
Speaking further, Hon. Abbas explained that the bill seeks to rename the Nigeria Police Force as the Federal Police Service while empowering states to establish their own police services through laws enacted by their Houses of Assembly.
He noted that no state police would become operational until it satisfied national minimum standards to be prescribed by the National Assembly, while the Federal Police would continue to provide policing in states yet to establish their own services.
According to him, the proposed law assigns responsibility for terrorism, border security, federal crimes and the Federal Capital Territory to the Federal Police, while state police would handle law enforcement within their respective states.
Responding to concerns over possible political abuse of state police, Abbas said the bill provides safeguards, including independent State Police Service Commissions, direct funding arrangements and constitutional procedures for appointing and removing commissioners of police.
He added that federal intervention in any state police service would only be permitted under clearly defined constitutional circumstances, for a limited period and subject to legislative and judicial oversight.
Drawing lessons from Germany, Canada, India and the United States, Abbas stressed that decentralised policing succeeds only where national standards, intelligence sharing and accountability mechanisms are firmly entrenched.
He also called for legislation establishing a national criminal and biometric database, improved intelligence sharing among security agencies, stronger border security and better welfare for security personnel.
The Speaker therefore urged lawmakers to adopt a phased implementation of state police, beginning with the enactment of a National Minimum Standards Act and sustainable funding arrangements before any state police force becomes operational.
