Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently added his voice to the on-going debate on the restructuring of the federation. He came out fully in support of state police and fiscal federalism which will put more resources at the disposal of the states, as federating units. The debate on the desirability or otherwise of state police has been on for decades. It is part of the larger debate on the re-structuring of the country. The contribution of Osinbajo to the controversial issue is welcome.
Calls for state police have refused to subside because of the perceived serial abuse of the Nigeria Police Force under a central Federal authority. The argument is that under the present structure, the police force is a behemoth hiding under a central authority that is too far removed from the people to be effective and responsive to their needs.
The Nigeria Police Force is one of the abiding features of our unbalanced federalism. But, it has not always been like this. In the colonial and early post-independence eras, Nigeria had different levels of policing, with the Native Authority Police, Regional Police and the Federal Police.
Although the different levels of the police under the old order were widely criticised and regarded as political appendages of their appointing authorities, which were perceived to have serially abused them, there is no running away from the advantages of bringing the policing function closer to the grassroots by removing it from one central authority in a distant capital city.
The argument has been made that the adoption of state police will help to increase the total number of policemen in the country, considering the fact that Nigeria is currently under-policed.
The number of policemen in Nigeria today, which is said to be below 400,000, leaves the country with a ratio of one policeman to 450 citizens.
The closer the police are to the people, the better. State police will make this possible. Going by our present 36-state structure, it would mean having 36 different centres of authority, working side by side with a federal police which will not need to be as big and unwieldy as we have it now. The federal police, under this arrangement, will mostly concentrate on federal offences, as is the case with, for instance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States of America.
If we consider practices in other countries, we will see that the United Kingdom has 45 territorial police forces and three special police forces, while the US has even more than that spread across hundreds of counties and states. If this arrangement has resulted in effective policing in these places, we should consider the option in Nigeria.
State police is possible in Nigeria, given that our laws are already structured along state and federal lines. We are not, however, unmindful of the fact that the Nigerian Constitution will have to be amended to accommodate this arrangement. Section 214 (1) of the constitution states that “there shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, and subject to the provisions of this section, no other Police Force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.”
This provision has to be tinkered with has it outlaws the establishment of any police other than the Nigeria Police Force. That should not be too difficult, as we have a National Assembly which can amend the constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police.
We recall, too, that the need for state police was a big issue at the 2014 National Conference, with the Confab deciding in its favour. This is one more reason why the recommendations of that conference should be revisited, instead of throwing the baby away with the bath water.
In the end, the call for state police cannot be completely divorced from the calls for the restructuring of the federation. We need to decide on the import issues of fiscal federalism and devolution of powers.
One of the arguments against state police is the present poor revenue base of most states and whether they can genuinely fund a police force.
Beyond the allocations to states from the Federation Account, state governors have to change their present beggarly orientation towards Abuja if they are to have state police. They will need to aggressively increase their internally generated revenue to take on more responsibilities in a restructured Nigeria.
There is also the fear that state police could be subjected to abuse by the various state authorities. Although this is possible, the same argument can also be made against the present centralized federal police.
What matters is the need to strengthen institutions such as the police and subsume the holders of their leadership positions at any time to the laws guiding their operations, as should be the case in a true democracy. Therefore, state police is possible if we have a strong will to make it a reality.
In order to curtail the abuse to which state governors may subject state police agencies it is recommended to constitutionally enable the following:
1. Ability for one or more neighboring local governments to maintain their own police force. Policing is more effective and the police can be more easily held accountable when they’re closer to the communities being policed. For example, one police force that serves Ikoyi and VI, or one that serves Lekki, VGC and Ajah, would be more effective and more accountable to these communities than one that is controlled all the way by a governor in Alausa. Likewise is a police force that serves Ikeja, Oshodi and Agege, etc.
2. The role of State Police under the authority of the governor should be limited, among other roles, to:
i. Patrolling state and federal highways and roads.
ii. Coordinating activities of police forces of local governments within the state (including helping to standardize minimal police officer qualifications, law enforcement best-practices, technologies, etc.)
iii. Authority to investigate and prosecute corruption, crimes, civil right abuses within local government police agencies and to terminate or jail offenders.
Federal Government Police, among other roles/authorities, shall have authority to investigate and prosecute crimes, corruption and civil rights abuses:
1. Committed by elected or appointed political office holders across federal, state or local governments within Nigeria.
2. Committed by federal, state, and local government civil servants.
3. Committed by or within state police agencies.
4. Committed across jurisdictions or state lines.
All police agencies must have the authority to investigate and prosecute any crime within their jurisdiction. Where necessary, investigation and prosecution may be coordinated with policing agencies in a higher hierarchy.
A few other thoughts:
1. The Federal and States Chief of Police shall be APPOINTED by the President and Governors, respectively. The term of a Federal or State Chief of Police shall not exceed 8 years.
2. The Local Government Chief of Police shall be ELECTED every two (2) years through an election by citizens within the local government(s). The term of a Chief of Police shall not exceed 8 years within the same jurisdiction. This limits corruption and patronage.
3. There shall be Prosecutor or Government Attorney Offices straddling Federal, State and Local Governments; for example. Department of Justice at the federal level, State Attorney Office at the state levels, District Attorney Officer to serve several contiguous local governments.
4. Crimes investigated by the police within a jurisdiction shall be prosecuted the appropriate Government/Prosecutor Attorney offices.
5. Local and/or District Prisons and Jails would need to be built to hold offenders and convicted criminals. Likewise State and Federal Prisons/Jails.
In order to this to work fiscal federalism all the way to the local governments must be gradually established. A system of taxes would enable the tiers of government to earn the revenues required to function. The federal government’s major focus would be external security and foreign affairs, control of federal currency and monetary policies, enforcement of the federal constitution, minimum federal standards for education, policing, etc. State governments shall be responsible for the state’s economy, etc.