Agbakoba seeks constitutional reforms, warns state police may be abused by governors

SENIOR Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has cautioned that establishing state police without adequate constitutional safeguards could allow governors to use the security outfit as a political tool, undermining democratic governance.

Agbakoba made the submission in a letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s transmission of an executive bill to the National Assembly seeking to amend Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to enable the creation of state police.

The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president welcomed the proposed amendment, describing it as a significant step toward improving security by decentralising policing and bringing law enforcement closer to communities.

“I commend the President for transmitting to the National Assembly an executive Bill proposing the amendment of Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to introduce the long-awaited state police. This is a welcome development that will, if properly implemented, enhance public security and bring law enforcement closer to the communities it serves,” he wrote.

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However, Agbakoba maintained that the proposal should form part of broader constitutional reforms that devolve more responsibilities to state and local governments. He argued that functions including prison administration, drivers’ licence issuance, marriage registration, arbitration, trade regulation and business name registration could be handled more efficiently at the subnational level.

He also expressed concern that state police could become vulnerable to political interference, citing the experiences of state independent electoral commissions and local governments, which he said have largely lost their autonomy to state executives.

According to him, meaningful devolution of powers requires strong constitutional guarantees to prevent institutions from becoming extensions of executive authority.

“Devolution without institutional protection is reform in name only, and history has shown that where institutions lack genuine constitutional protection, they inevitably become instruments of executive power rather than servants of the people and the Constitution,” he stated.

Referring to South Africa’s constitutional framework, Agbakoba noted that Chapter 9 of the country’s constitution protects institutions that support democracy from political interference.

He observed that bodies such as the Public Protector, Human Rights Commission, Electoral Commission and Auditor General are constitutionally independent, enjoy secure tenure and answer to parliament rather than the executive.

“The result is that in South Africa, neither the president nor any provincial governor can dictate to or manipulate these critical institutions,” he said.

Agbakoba recommended that Nigerian institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) should also enjoy constitutional protection from executive control.

He further proposed that these agencies receive statutory funding through direct allocations from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and remain accountable to the National Assembly or state houses of assembly instead of the executive arm of government.

Citing constitutional scholar Ben Nwabueze, he said the reforms are consistent with the principle of limited government, where executive authority is checked by strong, independent institutions.

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“This process has been described by Professor Ben Nwabueze as the concept of limited government, which is the principle that executive power is not at large but is constrained by independent institutions guaranteed by the Constitution,” he stated.

Agbakoba warned that the absence of such safeguards would defeat the purpose of state policing.

“If not, if state police are simply handed to governors without these protections, they will inevitably become tools of oppression, and Nigeria will have traded one problem for a far worse one.”

As part of his recommendations, he proposed that the appointment and removal of heads of state police formations should require the involvement of the Police Service Commission (PSC), state governors and state houses of assembly to prevent unilateral political control.

“The same tripartite structure should govern removal, so that no single arm of government can unilaterally install or dislodge the head of the police,” he said.

He urged the Federal Government to consider the wider constitutional reforms alongside the proposed state police legislation to ensure the initiative strengthens democracy rather than weakens it.