The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Tinubu administration’s push for state police as a rushed and politically driven response to Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, arguing that while it supports the creation of state police, the reform cannot succeed without the institutional preparedness and safeguards necessary to make it effective. In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said state police is a necessary component of Nigeria’s long-term constitutional reform, but warned against presenting it as an immediate solution to the escalating crisis of banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism confronting the country.
The ADC warned against treating legislation as a silver bullet, insisting that comprehensive police reform, independent oversight, judicial autonomy, correctional services, intelligence coordination, and other supporting institutions must be strengthened alongside any decentralised policing framework to prevent abuse and ensure lasting security.
The full statement read:
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) supports state police. We have always believed that Nigeria’s policing architecture must evolve to reflect the realities of our federal system. But support for state police cannot be confused with support for the Tinubu administration’s handling of this important national reform.
What we are witnessing is a hurried response to a worsening security crisis, not the careful institutional planning required to build a functional, accountable, and effective policing system. State police is too important, and the security of Nigerians too urgent, to be reduced to a quick legislative fix or rushed through the National Assembly without the broad consultation such a far-reaching reform demands.
It is equally important to state that there is nothing novel about the idea of state police. Decentralised policing has been part of Nigeria’s constitutional and political conversation for decades and today enjoys broad national support. What is new is the attempt by the Tinubu administration to package this long-standing national consensus as a bold new initiative and, worse, to present it as a silver bullet for the country’s current security crisis. It is neither. State police is a structural reform whose benefits will only be realised over time. It cannot, by itself, solve today’s emergency.
That is why the apparent rush to push this legislation through the National Assembly, without the broad consultation and public engagement that a constitutional reform of this magnitude requires, is both unnecessary and potentially counterproductive. Legislation with such far-reaching implications for every Nigerian, and one that could fundamentally alter the country’s constitutional architecture, requires broad consultation and careful reflection. Instead, what we are are seeing is a government in desperate haste to amend the Constitution in order to create the impression that it is doing something about the country’s worsening insecurity.
After all, if President Tinubu were genuinely committed to state police, why did it take his administration almost until the end of its tenure to begin rushing through a constitutional amendment?
Nevertheless, passing a law is only the beginning, and probably the easiest part, of a complex process. Recruitment, vetting, training, equipment, funding, command structures, operational guidelines, and independent oversight cannot be created overnight, especially as the country approaches another election cycle. Meanwhile, terrorists, kidnappers, and bandits will not suspend their activities while new institutions are being assembled. Nigerians deserve reforms that are carefully designed to succeed, not reforms designed merely to create the impression that the government is doing something.
The government’s approach also leaves fundamental questions unanswered. What safeguards will prevent state police from becoming instruments of political intimidation? What guarantees exist for genuinely independent state legislatures and judiciaries capable of exercising meaningful oversight? Who will regulate recruitment, deployment, discipline and funding? Where are the accompanying reforms to prosecution, correctional services, forensic capacity and intelligence coordination? These are not secondary questions. They are the difference between building a professional police service and creating another institution that may be vulnerable to abuse.
Equally concerning is the impression that state police is being presented as a substitute for reforming the Nigeria Police Force. It should not be. Nigeria’s federal police will continue to bear primary responsibility for national security, counterterrorism, interstate crime and intelligence coordination. If the structural deficiencies of the existing police are left unaddressed, creating another policing layer simply duplicates weakness instead of multiplying effectiveness.
The ADC’s position has been consistent. Our manifesto supports a multi-layered policing framework built on federal, state and community policing, with clearly defined jurisdictions, enforceable national standards, independent oversight and stronger community intelligence. We equally recognise that policing alone cannot deliver security. Effective law enforcement depends on functioning courts, modern correctional services, professional prosecution, intelligence coordination, forensic capacity, technology and accountable institutions working together. That is the comprehensive security architecture an ADC government will build.
Security is too serious to be treated as another political posturing. Nigerians deserve reforms that are carefully designed and institutionally sound, not reforms driven by political urgency or public relations considerations. The ADC will support measures that genuinely strengthen Nigeria’s security. But we will continue to oppose every attempt to substitute the hard work of building institutions capable of keeping Nigerians safe with mere political theatre.
Signed:
Mallam Bolaji ABDULLAHI
National Publicity Secretary
African Democratic Congress (ADC)
