President Tinubu made a definitive push for state police at a Wednesday night gathering with Senates, calling on the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution.
Citing the urgent need to crush banditry and insurgency, Tinubu argued that decentralized policing is the key to modernizing Nigeria’s security.
He urged lawmakers to “start thinking” seriously about the shift, which would allow state governors greater control over security.
“Nigeria is extremely challenged, we are facing terrorism, banditry, insurgency, but you never failed to make a right response to these calls.
“What I will ask for tonight is for you to start thinking how best to amend the Constitution to incorporate the state police for us to secure our country, take over our forests from marauders, free our children from fear,” Tinubu said.
Tinubu framed the proposed reform as a constitutional obligation anchored on unity and shared responsibility.
“What you have faced in the challenging period of this country, the terrorism and banditry, is causing us havoc and we should pull together, unite in a way that our forefathers contemplated to bring about a constitutional democracy and pull us together. They didn’t say we should fight,” he said.
Persecondnews reports that President Tinubu’s latest appeal is the culmination of a persistent, years-long campaign to overhaul Nigeria’s security framework.
This momentum trace back to February 2024, when he convened an emergency meeting with the 36 state governors to establish a joint committee tasked with exploring state police modalities.
At the time, he insisted the nation must “move aggressively” to protect lives and property.
That resolve only strengthened throughout 2025. By November, he was urging the National Assembly to review the legal hurdles facing willing states, and by December, he had pivoted to the APC National Caucus, linking state policing with the broader goal of local government autonomy.
Persecondnews recalls that just few days ago, during an interfaith Iftar, the President struck his most urgent tone yet, declaring that state police “can’t wait” and is a non-negotiable shift in the national architecture.
Beyond the security debate, the President also took a moment to commend lawmakers for their steadfast backing of his administration’s “bold and necessary” economic reforms.
“I have a lot of credit for bold reforms. Without your collaborations, without your inspirations, those reforms are not possible. We are reformists together,” he said.
Tinubu defended the removal of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange reforms, describing them as steps taken to halt “monumental corruption.”
“What we gave up and what we stopped is a monumental corruption in subsidy. We gave it up. We don’t want to participate in monumental corruption, in arbitrage, foreign exchange,” he stated.
According to him, the reforms have laid the foundation for economic stability.
“You don’t have to chase me for dollars. In the past, you could see what Nigeria is today. You should be proud… What we are enjoying is stable economy, prosperity beckoning on us. We just need to work hard for it,” he added.
Responding to criticisms from the opposition, the President dismissed claims that he was stifling opposition voices.
“When they accused me of killing oppositions, I didn’t have a gun… I can’t blame anybody from jumping out of a sinking ship if they did,” he said, in apparent reference to recent defections.
He described the coincidence of Ramadan and Lent as symbolic of national unity and called for continued harmony between the executive and legislature.
“We are committed to Nigerian entity succeeding. We are committed to make law for the welfare, prosperity of the country. I think we are committed together to govern together,” he said.
In his response, Senate, President Godswill Akpabio, assured the President of the chamber’s loyalty and continued cooperation.
“We have nothing to give to you than to assure you of our loyalty,” Akpabio said. “I’m sure you have noticed that nothing you have ever sent to us died in first reading, and it will never happen.”
He said the Senate painstakingly reviews executive proposals to ensure they serve national interest, even when they initially attract criticism.
“We sit down to painstakingly go through everything that comes before us, and then at the end, we see that it is in the interest of Nigerians, even when the social media is not seeing it,” he said.
Akpabio commended Tinubu’s tax reforms, foreign exchange unification, fuel subsidy removal and the recent electoral amendment, noting that the President promptly assented to the revised Electoral Act when convinced it served national interest.
He expressed optimism that by 2031, Nigeria would be more prosperous under Tinubu’s leadership and offered prayers for peace amid what he described as “troubles and sponsored insecurity” in parts of the country.
Akpabio also thanked Tinubu for appointing former Senator Jimoh Ibrahim as an ambassador, describing it as recognition of legislative talent.
The interfaith gathering ended with prayers for unity, wisdom and strength for the nation’s leaders as they navigate security and economic challenges.
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