Seventeen months after the Tinubu administration first indicated interest in creating a decentralised police system, pressure is mounting from sociopolitical groups, civil society organisations, and ex-service personnel for its implementation. The renewed push followed President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with prominent citizens of Katsina State on Tuesday, where he pledged to speed up power devolution to sub-national governments and strengthen newly deployed forest guards.
Reacting to the development, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Jare Ajayi, on Thursday welcomed the President’s remarks. Speaking in Ibadan, Oyo State, Ajayi expressed optimism that Tinubu would clear the hurdles delaying the initiative and ensure its full implementation before the end of 2025.
However, the Northern Progressive Elders Group has cautioned against the creation of state police. Represented by Yusuf Abubakar, the group argued in an interview that while insecurity is widespread in both the North and South-West, devolving policing powers to the states could heighten political crises and deepen insecurity rather than resolve it.
