State Police: Tinubu Seeks Constitutional Amendment, Defines Federal, State Roles

State Police: Tinubu Seeks Constitutional Amendment, Defines Federal, State Roles
Transmits State Police Bill to Reps
Proposes Independent State Police Commissions

President Bola Tinubu has transmitted a bill to the House of Representatives seeking constitutional amendments to establish State Police services across Nigeria while retaining the Federal Police Service and introducing national minimum policing standards.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that the proposed legislation, comprising 26 clauses, seeks to amend several provisions of the 1999 Constitution to create a constitutional framework for state policing, strengthen oversight mechanisms, protect human rights and define the responsibilities of both federal and state police authorities.

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According to the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill, the proposed amendments are designed to preserve the Federal Police Service as the default policing institution in any state until a State Police Service is lawfully established and certified operational.

The bill also seeks to create constitutional safeguards for civilian control, independent police service commissions, national policing standards, criminal information systems, firearms regulation, intergovernmental cooperation and federal intervention where necessary.

Under the proposal, a State Police Service can only begin operations after being established by a law passed by the state’s House of Assembly and certified as meeting national minimum standards prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

Until then, the Federal Police Service will continue to perform policing duties within the affected state.

The bill assigns the Federal Police Service responsibility for matters involving national security, terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime, arms trafficking, border security, interstate crimes, federal institutions and the Federal Capital Territory.

State Police Services, on the other hand, will be responsible for enforcing state laws, maintaining public order, preventing and detecting crimes within their jurisdictions and protecting lives and property.

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The proposal also prohibits state police officers from exercising policing powers outside their states unless authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.

To prevent abuse, the bill bars governors or any authority from issuing directives requiring the arrest, detention, investigation or deployment of police against any named individual, political party or group for partisan or unlawful purposes.

It also provides that governors may only issue written policy directives relating to public safety and public order, while police officers retain the right to challenge unlawful directives before the appropriate Police Service Commission or the courts.

The proposed legislation empowers the Federal Police Service to intervene temporarily in the affairs of a State Police Service under specific circumstances, including the breakdown of public order, threats to national security, serious administrative incapacity or evidence of gross human rights violations.

Such intervention must be authorised in writing by the President, limited in scope and duration, and subject to judicial review as well as Senate approval where required.

The bill also proposes the establishment of independent State Police Service Commissions with direct funding from the state’s Consolidated Revenue Fund to oversee appointments, promotions and disciplinary matters without executive interference.

In addition, the National Assembly would be empowered to prescribe minimum standards on recruitment, training, certification, discipline, use of force, complaints, accountability, criminal records management and data sharing for all police services in the country.

The proposal further recommends replacing the existing Nigeria Police Force with a Federal Police Service and renaming the Nigeria Police Council as the National Police Council, with expanded membership to include state attorneys-general, retired senior police officers, representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association, Nigeria Labour Congress, National Human Rights Commission and Public Complaints Commission.

If approved by the National Assembly and endorsed through the constitutional amendment process, the bill would mark one of Nigeria’s most significant policing reforms by allowing states to establish their own police services under nationally prescribed standards while maintaining federal oversight on matters affecting national security.