By Christiana Ekpa
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, on Monday, said the emerging challenges have rendered the current unitary policing system under the Nigeria Police Force ineffective, leading to calls for its decentralization by way of having state police.
Speaker Abbas also noted that the current security architecture in Nigeria has been overstretched by the numerous security challenges.
He, however, stated that the House remains neutral in the debates for and against creation of state police.
The Speaker made this known in Abuja on Monday at the National Dialogue on State Policing, which the House organised on the proposal to decentralise the current NPF and empower states to create and operate their own policing system police.
The proposal for state police is part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution by the 10th National Assembly.
The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, and 14 others had sponsored the bill seeking to alter the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution to empower the states to establish their own policing outfits.
The House had on February 20, 2024, passed for second reading, the bill seeking to create police structures in each of the states of the federation.
Speaker Abbas stated: “Our mission here is simple: to deliberate the future of policing in Nigeria, reflecting on our historical context and aligning our actions with the demands of our diverse and dynamic populace and daunting contemporary security challenges that have stretched our existing system to a breaking point.
“The concept of state police involves decentralising law enforcement functions to the state level, thereby allowing for more localised and responsive policing tailored to the unique needs of each State.
“However, Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution establishes the Nigerian Police Force as unitary police ‘for the Federation or any part thereof.’ However, as noted earlier, evolving security challenges and other institutional and structural challenges have severely affected the general effectiveness of the police.”
He added: “As you are mostly aware, this deficit has resulted in the military engaging in policing functions in all States of the Federation, including the FCT. In turn, this has also overstretched the armed forces and affected their effectiveness in combatting other broader security challenges, including those that threaten the territorial integrity of Nigeria.”
