A constitutional amendment to establish state police in Nigeria is now within reach, according to the Presidency.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the President's Chief of Staff, made this known on Thursday at the State House in Abuja.
He briefed reporters after a high-level consultative meeting on the proposed security framework.
Gbajabiamila explained that deliberations began several months ago on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's orders. The process has now gained significant momentum, he noted.
"We started deliberations in the last three or four months on how to go about the establishment of state police as directed by Mr President," Gbajabiamila said.
Creating state police isn't a simple task, according to him. Constitutional and legal issues must be carefully worked through.
"Establishing state police is not something that you do with the snap of the fingers," the Chief of Staff told State House Correspondents.
"There is a lot involved in terms of constitution and legalities, and thank God we have now gained a lot of traction."
He indicated that constitutional amendments would come soon. The enabling legislation would follow afterwards, he explained.
"Right now, what we are looking at is the constitutional amendment itself, and then the enabling law would follow thereafter," Gbajabiamila noted.
"That is what we have been deliberating on in the last couple of hours."
Broad support now exists across the country for this initiative. Gbajabiamila stressed that the debate has shifted from whether to establish state police to how best to do it.
President Tinubu will receive a comprehensive report on the meeting's outcome.
He has long championed state police as critical to Nigeria's security needs. The president believes a decentralized policing structure would strengthen grassroots security operations nationwide.
Local intelligence gathering would improve under such a system, according to Tinubu. Sub-national governments would also gain greater capacity to tackle emerging security threats.
Several top officials attended Thursday's meeting at the State House.
Jibrin Barau, Deputy President of the Senate, was present. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, also participated.
Prince Lateef Fagbemi, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, joined the discussions. Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu attended as well.
Other senior government officials rounded out the attendees. The gathering represented key stakeholders in Nigeria's security architecture.
These consultations are part of a broader effort by the Federal Government. Officials are working to develop a workable operational framework for state police.
The initiative aims to strengthen internal security across the country. Improved intelligence gathering at the local level is another key objective.
Better protection of lives and property remains central to the proposal. The government believes decentralized policing can achieve these goals more effectively.
