Amid ongoing violence across Nigeria, the National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday, April 24, postponed deliberations on the creation of state police until its next meeting.
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri told State House correspondents after the council’s 149th meeting in Aso Rock that although the issue was on the agenda, it couldn’t be addressed due to time constraints.
“State police was part of our agenda today, but unfortunately, because of time demands, and after a very long meeting, we have been there for a very long time now, the presentations could not get to that point. So, I assure you that in our next meeting, that issue will be exhaustively discussed,” Diri said.
While NEC meetings are typically held on the last Thursday of each month, sessions have been inconsistent.
Since December, the council has not extensively debated the proposed reform, despite all 36 states submitting reports supporting a decentralised police structure.
During the meeting, governors observed a minute of silence for victims of recent attacks in Plateau, Benue, Borno, and Enugu States. The killings, most recently the April 14 massacre of 52 people in Plateau, have renewed urgent calls for decisive security action.
In response, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, led by Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, stressed the need to recruit more personnel into security agencies and leverage technology to improve safety.
A communiqué issued by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma revealed that the forum had set up a sub-committee to collaborate with security chiefs.
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Uzodimma said, “The forum received a presentation from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on an innovative security initiative aimed at strengthening national and subnational capacity for early threat detection and coordinated response.”
He added that the project would roll out advanced surveillance infrastructure to boost crisis management and public safety. Governors backed the initiative, noting its relevance to evolving security threats.
Meanwhile, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani pushed for the creation of state police, insisting that governors are limited in their constitutional role to combat insecurity.
“In my opinion, it’s not an indictment. I do agree that we have a limited role to play concerning the Constitution of Nigeria.
“Don’t forget that even tomorrow, by the grace of God, it’s one of the areas we are going to look at – the possibility of the creation of state policing in Nigeria, which for me would go a long way in addressing insecurity, particularly at the sub-national level,” he said.
Sani argued that while governors must take responsibility, systemic limitations and under-resourced security agencies make lasting solutions difficult.
“But of course, in my last interview, I already declared that we do not have enough boots on the ground. So, no matter how we try to address the issue, we have to look at other aspects, particularly looking at a non-kinetic approach.
“Because when you look at the security agencies in Nigeria, look at the military—like I said, we have less than 300,000 soldiers, the entire police personnel in Nigeria is less than 400,000 in a country of about 230 million,” he noted.
He concluded by urging unity across all levels of government, saying, “We don’t need to blame each other.”