Former Lagos State Governor and ex-Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has cautioned Nigerians not to treat state policing as a magic cure for the country’s worsening insecurity, even as the National Assembly moves closer to passing a constitutional amendment to decentralise policing.
Speaking at The Platform, a public policy forum hosted by The Covenant Nation in Lagos to mark Democracy Day on Friday, June 13, 2026, Fashola said the conversation around state police has come late and may have been driven by desperation, but it must be handled with care if it is to work.
State police is necessary, but not a silver bullet
Fashola told the gathering that while he supports the idea of state police, it should not be viewed as an immediate solution to Nigeria’s security challenges.
“State police is further away than the necessity of today,” he said, noting that even if constitutional hurdles were cleared, creating the formations alone would not solve the problems.
He argued that the odds are stacked against any government because “government must be right every time, and the criminal needs to be right just once”. For that reason, he said, effective policing requires strong safeguards, proper training, and clear operational standards.
The former governor stressed that an enabling act must spell out exactly what is expected of state police so the power conferred on them is not abused. He also called for continuous training and retraining of operatives, a minimum curriculum for recruits, civic education, empathy, and clear rules on the use of firearms.
The practical hurdles: money, timing and capacity
Fashola pointed out that rollout will not be uniform. “Not every state can afford to start on the same day because they do not have the same resources,” he said.
He also raised basic but critical questions: “how many young people out there want to work in the state police? What kind of people should we put in there?”
His comments come at a time the House of Representatives has passed HB 617, part of the ongoing constitutional alteration aimed at restructuring Nigeria’s security architecture in response to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes. The Senate has also signaled readiness to fast-track the process.
Other voices in the debate have been more optimistic. Defence Minister General Christopher Musa said state police “could become the silver bullet we need” if properly planned, but warned it could also become “the Hiroshima that many people fear” if poorly executed. Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu described the bill’s passage as “epochal”.
Critics, however, continue to warn that state police could be turned into instruments of political intimidation, electoral manipulation and suppression of dissent. The current proposal tries to address this by allowing states to “choose” to establish services while the Nigeria Police Force retains federal duties, and by giving the Federal Government power to intervene in cases of breakdown of order or rights violations.
Governance beyond politics
Fashola used the same forum to call on the legal profession to take a more active role in national security. Speaking at the 2026 NBA Ikeja Branch Law Week, he said the burden of insecurity cannot rest solely on politicians and security agencies. He argued that the Constitution makes the security and welfare of citizens the primary purpose of government, and that societies where laws are consistently enforced attract investment and prosperity. “Security and prosperity are inseparable,” he noted.
The former minister also revealed during a panel at The Platform that he never received security votes during his eight years as Lagos governor, saying operations were funded through transparent budgetary processes and private sector contributions.
No return to the ballot
Away from security, Fashola addressed speculation about his political future. He ruled out any presidential ambition, saying he takes pride in two decades of public service and has no plans to contest again.His statement helps close a chapter on one of the most frequently mentioned names in conversations about experienced technocrats who could run for the country’s top office.
A turning point, with caveats
Nigeria’s push for state police has gained urgency under President Bola Tinubu, who has described the reform as a way to bring law enforcement closer to the people and improve response times. Advocates argue it will strengthen intelligence gathering and complement federal agencies.
But Fashola’s intervention adds a note of caution to the momentum. For him, the reform will be measured not by the passage of a bill, but by the institutions, training and oversight built around it.
With the amendment still requiring approval by two-thirds of state Houses of Assembly, the coming months will test whether Nigeria can design a policing model that delivers security without creating new risks.
As Fashola put it, the country needs “guardrails” first. Without them, state police risks reproducing the same problems under a different name.
