Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has expressed optimism that state police operations could commence before the end of 2026 or during the first quarter of 2027.
The governor spoke on Friday, October 23, at the unveiling of the Kessington Adebutu Security Trust Fund building in Ikeja, Lagos, where he discussed the expected role of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund in supporting the proposed security structure.
He said the introduction of state police would expand the fund’s responsibilities, particularly in providing equipment, logistics and financial support for the new outfit.
He said, “So, possibly before the end of the year, or maybe in the first quarter next year, we will now have state police in every one of our states.”
Sanwo-Olu described state police as a long-overdue development and said Lagos was prepared to implement the arrangement once the necessary approval was granted.
“We’re excited, we’re looking forward to the formation of the state police because we believe that it’s long overdue, and everything that we need to do to bring it to reality in Lagos once the approval is dropped,” he said.
The governor said his administration would work to ensure that Lagos had a well-equipped and adequately supported state police system.
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“We will need to ensure that we are very creative, we can think out of the box, and we can put resources together to make sure that Lagos State, at that time, which will be one of the state police setups, will be the best in the country by statute, by number, by support, by logistics, by everything,” he said.
He also assured serving police officers that the transition would be managed in a way that prevented operational disruptions and concerns about job security.
“We want to assure the current police formation that we will put everything in place, that we will work together, we’ll create an ambience to ensure that there is no disruption in which anybody will have a fear of a loss of job or something,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu recalled that the Lagos State Security Trust Fund was established in September 2007 under former Governor Babatunde Fashola and had helped strengthen security operations, including by raising more than 300 vehicles within its first four months.
He urged residents, businesses and other organisations to contribute to security efforts, describing the protection of lives and property as a collective responsibility.
The governor also praised philanthropist Kessington Adebutu for donating the building, which was formally named after him.
Meanwhile, the proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police has secured approval from 24 state houses of assembly, meeting the two-thirds majority required for the bill to proceed to the next stage of the legislative process.