A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Buba Galadima, has cautioned against the proposed creation of state police, arguing that the initiative would neither address Nigeria’s security challenges nor strengthen democracy.
Galadima, who spoke during an interview on the ARISE News Morning Show, said the proposed policing structure could instead be used by political officeholders to intimidate opposition parties ahead of the 2027 general election.
He was reacting to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, which was recently passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for consideration as part of the constitutional amendment process.
Questioning the effectiveness of state police in tackling insecurity, Galadima argued that creating another policing structure would not automatically improve security.
“If the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian military cannot solve security situations in Nigeria, I wonder how the state police would be able to do that,” he said.
The NDC chieftain alleged that the renewed push for state police was driven more by political considerations than security concerns.
“All that we know is that the president and the governors are looking for state police before the elections so that they can use them as political thugs to attack the opposition, disrupt the election and kill democracy,” he said.
Galadima also drew parallels with the defunct Native Authority Police, which operated in parts of Nigeria before the country’s policing system was centralised.
Recalling his experience, he alleged that the force was frequently used to suppress political opponents before elections.
“I was old enough to witness what happened during the Native Authority Police era. When elections approached, three months before the election, the Native Authority Police would gather all the opposition elements within their territorial jurisdiction and lock them up.
“Some of them, they would just say, ‘Oh, you have abused the Emir,’ or ‘You have abused the chief,’ or ‘You have abused the judge,’ or that you were wearing shoes while your village head was seated on a chair. Then they would clamp all of them into detention,” he said.
According to him, the alleged abuse of the Native Authority Police contributed to the migration of many people from parts of Northern Nigeria.
Galadima further warned that state police could deepen ethnic and religious divisions if recruitment was dominated by particular groups within individual states.
“The state police could even be used to destroy the unity of this country because if there are certain states where only one tribe or only one religion constitutes the state police, people from other parts of the country will have no liberty to live and do their businesses, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
He maintained that the proposed arrangement would create more challenges than solutions.
“For me, it will create more problems, more division, and more suspicion,” he added.
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