Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, has disclosed that the National Assembly is proposing constitutional guarantees for the financial autonomy of state police services as part of ongoing efforts to amend the 1999 Constitution, insisting that funding must be placed on a first-line charge to shield the proposed security architecture from political and financial manipulation.

Bamidele, who is also Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said the proposed safeguards were aimed at ensuring that state police services would not become tools in the hands of governors, influential business interests, criminal syndicates or other powerful groups.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, the Senate Leader acknowledged widespread concerns expressed by stakeholders over the proposed creation of state police, describing them as legitimate and deserving of careful consideration.

According to him, many of the fears stem from Nigeria’s experience during the First Republic, when the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions empowered regional governments to establish and control their own police forces, leading to allegations of abuse and political persecution.

Bamidele said the National Assembly was addressing those concerns through a multi-layered framework that would promote institutional independence, fiscal autonomy and operational discipline for the proposed state police services.

He disclosed that lawmakers were considering a constitutional provision that would make funding for state police a first-line charge, similar to the funding arrangement for the judiciary.

Explaining the rationale, Bamidele noted that unlike members of the executive arm who require approval for expenditure, the judiciary enjoys constitutionally guaranteed access to funds, a model he said should be replicated for state police institutions.

“The Commissioner of Police and the State Police Service Commission must have a guaranteed source of funds provided for in the Constitution so that the police chief will not be subject to the whims and caprices of a state governor,” he said.

He argued that leaving the funding of state police entirely at the discretion of state governors could undermine their effectiveness, particularly where disagreements arise between the police leadership and the political authorities.

“If a state police service is not responding well to the directives of a governor, he may choose not to fund it. We must prevent such a situation,” he said, adding that the Constitution should prescribe a specific percentage of state budgets for the operations of state police services, with clear provisions governing access to such funds.

The Senate Leader further assured Nigerians that the National Assembly was committed to creating a state police system that would be accountable to the public while addressing all legitimate concerns raised during consultations on the constitutional amendment.

He stressed that adequate and guaranteed funding would be critical to the success of any decentralised policing system, warning that establishing state police without sustainable financing would weaken their capacity to discharge constitutional responsibilities.

Bamidele explained that the ongoing constitutional review seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby empowering states to establish and operate their own police services alongside the Nigeria Police Force.

He, however, cautioned that concerns over state police should not be limited to the possibility of political abuse.

According to him, poorly funded state police services could also become vulnerable to undue influence from wealthy individuals, organised business interests, criminal networks and entrenched cabals.

“Business class can also abuse it. Some other organisations, even criminals or cabals, can abuse state police service because it is a question of ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune.’ If a state police service is not well funded by any means, we have a situation where it may as well be a highway to nowhere. That is one thing all of us must prevent,” he said.