Former Presidential Aide urges transparency in state police legislation

Former Presidential aide and host of Inside Sources, Laolu Akande, has welcomed the transmission of the state police bill to the National Assembly, describing it as a significant step toward addressing Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

However, he cautioned that the legislative process must be transparent and inclusive, insisting that the details of the proposed legislation should be subjected to extensive public debate before its eventual passage.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily on Channels Television on Thursday, Akande said the movement of the state police proposal from the executive to the legislature represents progress in a long-running national conversation about decentralizing policing and strengthening internal security.

While acknowledging the broad national support for the establishment of state police, Akande expressed concern over what he described as a lack of public awareness regarding the contents of the proposed legislation.

According to him, citizens, civil society organisations and other stakeholders have not been adequately informed about the specific provisions of the bill currently before lawmakers.

“I think the other issue that we ought to be concerned about now is the transparency of this process. People don’t really know the details of what is contained in the bill. I’m not sure whether there were public gatherings on the bill or opportunity that people have for public hearings for what is in the bill,” he said.

Akande stressed that legislative reforms of such magnitude require extensive public engagement to ensure broad-based ownership and confidence in the final outcome.

“I think there is a bit of concern about that. That is what I think they should try to sort out so we have a fair, transparent process for people to know the details of what is being passed,” he stated.

Calls for Public Hearings

The former presidential spokesman argued that public hearings should have preceded the bill’s advancement through the legislative process.

He maintained that stakeholders from various sectors should have been given opportunities to examine and contribute to the proposal before lawmakers began deliberations.

“We have to make the point that public hearings ought to have taken place. People, stakeholders, civil societies and other interest parties would have contributed to the bill itself,” Akande said.

He warned that proceeding without sufficient consultation could create gaps in public understanding and potentially undermine confidence in the reform.

“As we are speaking now, people don’t have that kind of information. Certainly, it’s a bit of progress now that the presidency has sent the bill on state police to the National Assembly. And of course, we’ve seen the pace at which the National Assembly – both chambers have taken the issue. That is good.”

He noted, however, that the initiative could have been introduced much earlier, given the growing security concerns across the country, including banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, communal conflicts and other forms of violent crime that have stretched the capacity of federal security agencies.

“I wished this happened maybe a year or two ago before now. But, hey, better late than never,” he added.

Akande acknowledged that there appears to be a growing consensus across political, regional and social divides on the need for state police. For years, advocates have argued that Nigeria’s highly centralized policing structure has proven inadequate for addressing localized security threats in a country of over 200 million people.

Successive debates on constitutional restructuring have often featured state policing as a key recommendation, with supporters contending that locally controlled security agencies would be more responsive to community needs and intelligence gathering.

However, Akande emphasized that agreement on the principle of state police should not overshadow the need to thoroughly examine the operational details.

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