The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has faulted the Federal Government’s push for state police, describing the proposed constitutional reform as a hurried and politically motivated response to Nigeria’s deepening security crisis rather than a carefully planned institutional overhaul.
In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said it supports the establishment of state police as part of Nigeria’s long-term constitutional reforms.
It however, warned against portraying the initiative as an immediate remedy to the country’s spiralling cases of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
The ADC argued that the Tinubu administration was rushing the legislation through the National Assembly to create the impression that it was addressing insecurity without laying the institutional foundations required for an effective decentralised policing system.
“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,” the party said.
It maintained that state police was “too important” to be reduced to “a quick legislative fix” or rushed through the legislature without extensive consultations and public engagement.
According to the party, decentralised policing is not a new idea but one that has enjoyed broad national support for decades, accusing the administration of repackaging a longstanding constitutional proposal as a major policy breakthrough.
“It is a structural reform whose benefits will only be realised over time. It cannot, by itself, solve today’s emergency,” the statement added.
The ADC questioned why the Tinubu administration only moved to pursue the reform near the end of its tenure if it had genuinely been committed to creating state police.
The party also cautioned that passing the legislation would merely mark the beginning of a much more complex process involving recruitment, training, funding, equipment, command structures and independent oversight.
It warned that terrorists, kidnappers and bandits would not suspend their activities while the new policing institutions were being established.
The opposition party further expressed concern over the absence of safeguards to prevent abuse of state police by political office holders, asking how recruitment, deployment, discipline and funding would be regulated.
It also queried the lack of accompanying reforms in the judiciary, correctional services, forensic capacity, intelligence coordination and prosecution, insisting that policing reforms alone could not guarantee improved security.
The ADC stressed that state police should complement, rather than replace, reforms of the Nigeria Police Force, noting that the federal police would continue to play the lead role in national security, counter-terrorism and intelligence coordination.
Reaffirming its position, the party said its manifesto advocates a multi-layered policing structure comprising federal, state and community police with clearly defined jurisdictions, enforceable national standards and independent oversight.
It added that sustainable security would require functional courts, modern correctional services, professional prosecution, improved intelligence gathering, forensic capabilities, technology and accountable institutions working together.
“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 statement said.
(The Whistler)
