Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has renewed his call for the establishment of state police, arguing that governors cannot effectively combat insecurity without operational control over security agencies despite being designated as chief security officers of their states.
Speaking on Thursday at the Arise News Town Hall Summit on Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security held at the ThisDay Dome in Abuja, Lawal said the current policing structure leaves state governors with responsibility but little authority to respond to growing security threats.
The governor, who featured as a panellist at the summit, maintained that state policing would bridge the gap between responsibility and authority, enabling governors to protect lives and property more effectively while making them directly accountable to the people.
“We’re being called chief security officers of our respective states; however, the command and control structure is not under the governors,” Lawal said.
He described the ongoing discussions on state police as a welcome development, expressing optimism that the reform would strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture and improve responses to local security challenges.
According to him, granting states control over their own police formations would not only enhance security but also ensure that citizens can hold their governors accountable for maintaining peace and order.
“I am happy with the recent development of state police because it allows us to keep to our responsibilities and for our people also to hold us accountable as far as the security situation is concerned in our respective states,” he stated.
Lawal further argued that creating state police would mark a turning point in Nigeria’s efforts to tackle banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes that have persisted across several states.
“I strongly believe that, by the time we have state police, it will go a long way in solving a lot of the challenges, and we can then bear our names as proper chief security officers of our respective states,” he added.
Responding to concerns that governors could misuse state-controlled police for political purposes, the Zamfara governor dismissed such fears, pointing out that many states already operate local security outfits without using them to intimidate political opponents.
He nevertheless urged the National Assembly to build strong legal safeguards into the proposed framework to prevent abuse and ensure professionalism.
“I support state police. I recognise people’s fears of possible abuse, but with the right processes in place, those fears will be allayed,” he said.
The summit attracted governors, lawmakers, security chiefs, traditional rulers, civil society organisations and policy experts, who explored pathways to building national consensus on state policing and wider reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s internal security system.
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