Pitfalls in IG’s State Police Framework 

The Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu’s proposal for 60-month transition period in his 75-page framework on state police will not only frustrate President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to make state police a reality during his tenure but will also provide the opportunity for the next administration to jettison the scheme, Ejiofor Alike reports

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t is common knowledge that before the current Inspector General of Police (IG), Tunji Disu took over from his predecessor, Kayode Egbetokun, the Nigeria Police authorities and the previous IGs, including Egbetokun, were all opposed to the creation of state police.

At a meeting with former President Goodluck Jonathan in August 2012, retired IGs had declared that state police would only be an evil tool for state governors.

The retired police bosses told the then president that they were disturbed by the call for the creation of state police from certain Nigerians.

“We are of the opinion that the clamour is not in the interest of this nascent democracy,” the IGs said.

The ex-police chiefs – Muhammadu Yusuf; Sunday Adewusi; Gambo Jimeta; Aliyu Atta; Ibrahim Coomasie; Musiliu Smith; Tafa Balogun; Sunday Ehindero and Mike Okiro – warned that the establishment of state police would “bring us back to the days of ethnic militias where the OaaaaaaPC, MASSOB, Egbesu, ECOMOG and Yankalare held sway.”

In November 2023, Okiro, re-echoed his opposition to state police, saying that the decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force would not achieve its desired objective.

Okiro spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the 2023 Convention of the Old Seminarians Association of Nigeria, hosted by the Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akubueze, in Abuja.

According to him, state police would translate to duplicating forces in the country, adding that the nation was not ready for that.

He wondered how the states and local government areas that could not effectively pay the salaries of their workers would be able to fund their own police.

Okiro insisted that the only way the state police could work was for Nigeria to embrace the Canadian model.

The Canadian model, according to him, would involve the states recruiting police personnel who would be funded by the federal government.

“Before the advent of what we have now, we had ‘dandoka’, we had police in the West, and we also had police in the East.

“Local governments had their police, but because of the behaviour of the local police officers, during the time of the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, in 1971 or thereabout, he turned it to the Nigeria Police Force.

“I am opposed to the state police because of the benefit of hindsight—how they behaved in those days—unless you want to throw away the benefits of history,” he said.

Also, while speaking on ARISE News Channel in May  2025, Okiro also reiterated his opposition to state police. He insisted that state police would translate to duplicating forces in the country.

“It means that you are having 36 police forces in the country, and it will be difficult right now, for Nigerians; that kind of arrangement, maybe in the future,” he said.

Successive IGs have never hidden their disdain for state police. In fact, Egbetokun’s sudden resignation was allegedly linked to his opposition to the creation of state police, which President Bola Tinubu is very passionate about.

Sources close to the Louis Edet House Police Headquarters in Abuja claimed that Egbetokun was asked to resign for opposing his boss on state police.

It would be recalled that even Egbetokun’s two predecessors – the late Solomon Arase and Sunday Ehindero, had cause to disagree with his position on state police.

However, in a bid to key into Tinubu’s agenda, Disu has submitted a 75-page Framework on the implementation of state police to the National Assembly.

Many believe that some of his recommendations in the 75-page document will  frustrate Tinubu’s administration’s efforts to create state police and also expose the new security outfit to the same ills that made the federal police incapable of tackling violent crimes.

For instance, the new IG proposed a 60-month phased implementation roadmap. He also proposed that about 60 per cent of Nigeria’s existing police personnel would move to state police, while 40 per cent would remain within the federal structure.

The 60-month transition means the implementation will drag on for the next five years.

The implication is that state police will not be fully implemented within the life of Tinubu’s administration.

There is no guarantee that Tinubu’s successor will favour the creation of state police. A 60-month transition period will only give the next administration the opportunity to abandon the scheme.

Incidentally, Okiro has dramatically made a U-turn and threw his weight behind the creation of state police, rejecting the 60-month transition period.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS last week, the former IG argued that decentralising the force would significantly improve security. He however warned that the proposed five-year implementation timeline was too long.

“Five years is too long. While security reforms cannot happen overnight, the timeframe should be shorter and more realistic,” he stated.

Another pitfall in Disu’s proposal is the deployment of 60 per cent of the existing police personnel to the states.

Though Okiro supported this recommendation, many believe it will expose the state police to corruption, which is the bane of the current federal police.

Many have also supported Disu’s proposal on the ground that recruiting fresh hands in the states will take a long time.

This claim is also not correct because many states have trained Forest Guards, Civilian Joint Task Force, Neighbourhood Watch, and other local vigilantes that can be converted to state police personnel on short notice.

The National Assembly should identify other pitfalls in Disu’s proposal and discard them to ensure swift implementation of state police.