AAC presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore is asking the federal government to pause work on the state police bill until after next year’s general elections, warning that pushing it now could interfere with the polls.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Tuesday, Sowore said the timing is wrong. With voting months away, he argued that politicians and the public will be focused on campaigns and credibility of the election, not a major constitutional change.
“I would say that we wait until the elections are over,” he said. “To now insert state policing, a very major constitutional and federal structural change that could lead to interference with the election, is not the best time.”
Sowore also faulted the speed of the process. He said a change of this scale should go through proper parliamentary procedure and nationwide public debate, with input from states. Instead, he called the current push “suspicious” and rushed.
His comments come as the Tinubu administration moves ahead. On Monday, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila said a draft national policing bill will be presented to President Bola Tinubu on September 3. Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group, said a seven-week work plan running July 27 to September 14 covers legal drafting, research and implementation modelling, with national consultations to follow before final approval and transmission to the National Assembly.
President Tinubu has asked the National Assembly to expedite action on state police, citing worsening insecurity in parts of the country.
Sowore, however, raised another concern: trust. He said he does not believe Nigerian governors should control state-level security forces during an election period.
“So that we don’t end up in the middle of elections with state police in the hands of these very ravenous political juggernauts who are called governors,” he said.
Supporters of state police say it will improve local response to crime. Critics worry about potential abuse by governors and about how states will fund the new structure.
