Nigeria Governors Push for Expanded Powers as State Police Reform Gains Momentum

(State police. Photo Credit: Guardain Nigerian News)

Nigeria's 36 state governors have called for greater constitutional authority over security operations within their respective states, a demand that emerged from a high-level meeting focused on the establishment of state police.

The meeting, held last week, brought together state Attorneys-General, legal experts, and senior security officials to harmonise proposals for a constitutional and institutional framework for decentralised policing across the country.

The governors' position was contained in a communiqué issued after the session.

A central outcome of the meeting was a proposed policing structure rooted in cooperative federalism, under which federal and state police institutions would operate within clearly defined constitutional and statutory jurisdictions.

Under this arrangement, a Federal Police Service would retain exclusive responsibility for offences considered national in scope, while State Police Services would be empowered to prevent, investigate, and support the prosecution of offences within their constitutionally assigned jurisdiction, particularly those created under state laws.

The framework also considers mechanisms for the transfer or restructuring of existing policing assets, commands, and facilities to support the establishment of state police.

An additional recommendation was the creation of a rotating representative seat for state Attorneys-General on the National Police Council, with a view to strengthening state participation in national policing oversight and policy formulation.

On the question of funding, stakeholders stressed the need for clear constitutional provisions guaranteeing sustainable financial support for state policing structures, warning that without predictable funding, state police services could face operational difficulties that would undermine their effectiveness.