IGP tells police officers to prepare internally for the upcoming transition to state policing across the federation. Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Rilwan Disu informed personnel of the Nigeria Police Force that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has firmly resolved to decentralize the country’s security architecture.
Why did IGP Disu instruct officers to prepare for state police?
Speaking during a high-level briefing with senior officers at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the police chief emphasized that the federal government is fully committed to enacting the required constitutional amendments. Disu noted that decentralized policing has become essential to effectively combat localized security threats across various states. Consequently, the force leadership is shifting away from past institutional resistance toward proactive structural alignment with proposed state law enforcement bodies. “State police has come to stay, and the police should be able to contribute their own part in making it succeed,” Disu told senior officers during the meeting.
The police leadership reassured federal personnel that state police units will not replace or threaten existing jobs within the national force. Instead, the national police will focus heavily on high-level security challenges, including counter-terrorism, organized crime, cross-border operations, and federal infrastructure protection, while state forces tackle local crime prevention. Furthermore, the police chief inaugurated a specialized steering committee headed by Prof. Olu Ogunsakin to draft comprehensive operational guidelines, standardized recruitment protocols, and inter-agency coordination mechanisms.
- Direct mandate from President Bola Tinubu prioritizing constitutional amendments for state policing.
- Reassurance of complete job security for existing personnel within the federal policing structure.
- Inauguration of a steering committee to develop standardized operational frameworks and training protocols.
- Establishment of uniform national standards regarding firearms handling, human rights, and oversight.
“Our jobs are not being taken; it is just an issue of strategic partnership, not competition. State police has come to stay.”
Under the legislative proposals currently before the National Assembly, federal institutions will retain regulatory oversight to enforce uniform standards across all thirty-six states. Legal experts and security analysts note that establishing robust regulatory mechanisms will be crucial to preventing political misuse by state executive authorities. Meanwhile, state governments are awaiting the final outcome of the constitutional review process before establishing their local operational frameworks. Will the National Assembly successfully pass the constitutional amendments needed to launch state police before the end of the year?
