Lagos APC Backs Southwest Governors’ Push for State Police, Citing Overdue Security Reforms
In a significant political development, the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has thrown its weight behind a renewed call by Southwest governors for President Bola Tinubu to establish state police nationwide, declaring the move “overdue” for tackling Nigeria’s security crisis.
A “Timely and Pragmatic” Call for Decentralization
The party’s endorsement, articulated by its spokesman Mogaji Seye Oladejo, describes the governors’ position as “timely, forthright and pragmatic.” This public alignment signals a consolidation of regional opinion within the ruling party, framing state police not merely as a policy option but as an inevitable evolution of Nigeria’s security architecture.
Oladejo’s statement positions the Southwest as a long-standing advocate for “a modern, community-rooted security architecture,” suggesting that the region’s experiences with initiatives like Amotekun have provided a practical blueprint for the proposed reform.
The Political Calculus Behind the Push
This public appeal carries significant political weight, coming from the president’s home region and his own party. The Lagos APC carefully linked the governors’ call to President Tinubu’s “already established commitment to a responsive, people-centered, and technologically enhanced security ecosystem,” a framing that appears designed to build momentum for what could be a landmark constitutional change.
The party’s statement notably characterized opposition to state police as coming only from “enemies of peace,” a rhetorical move that seeks to marginalize dissent on the issue and present decentralization as the sole rational path forward.
From Regional Initiative to National Policy
The advocacy represents a strategic shift from regional security arrangements to a push for a nationwide framework. Oladejo emphasized that “State Police, properly designed, professionally regulated, and federally coordinated” would enhance community-level security, improve intelligence gathering, and provide real-time crime deterrence.
This vision of “multi-layered policing solutions” attempts to address common concerns about potential abuses of state-level police forces by emphasizing federal coordination and professional standards.
Broader Implications for Nigerian Federalism
The Lagos APC’s strong endorsement reflects deeper currents in Nigeria’s ongoing debate about federalism. The party explicitly connected the security proposal to its “long-standing progressive philosophy” that “security must be local to be effective.”
This stance places the ruling party in a potentially transformative position regarding the structure of Nigerian governance. The call represents one of the most concrete recent attempts to reconfigure the country’s security framework, which has remained heavily centralized despite decades of advocacy for restructuring.
As the statement concludes, “The time for State Police is not just ripe, it is overdue,” capturing the urgency that now characterizes this long-debated issue in the face of persistent national security challenges.