A retired Commissioner of Police, Balarabe Sule, has identified inadequate funding and the potential abuse of state police by governors as the biggest challenges to the successful implementation of state policing in Nigeria.
Sule made the remarks in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar while reacting to the Senate's passage of the State Police Bill on Wednesday.
Although he said the establishment of state police could help reduce crime, Sule questioned whether Nigeria is fully prepared for the system.
According to him, many states may struggle to provide the financial resources needed to recruit, equip and adequately remunerate state police personnel.
"I can very well tell you that many states will not have the resources to equip and pay remuneration for those to be employed to function effectively," he said.
He warned that poor funding could lead to corruption, arguing that officers who are not paid regularly or provided with the necessary equipment would be more vulnerable to unethical practices.
Sule also expressed concern about the lack of uniform operational standards across states, noting that differences in economic capacity could affect the quality of policing.
Beyond funding, he said state police could be susceptible to political interference.
"I also fear that state police will be subject to abuse by governors, who pay them irrespective of the checks and balances," he said.
Despite his concerns, Sule acknowledged that state police could strengthen security because officers recruited from their communities would have better knowledge of the local environment and crime patterns.
"In your locality, you practically know everyone and where crimes are likely to be committed," he said, adding that recruiting indigenous personnel could improve intelligence gathering and crime prevention.
However, he maintained that Nigeria is not yet ready for state police, arguing that the country still lacks the institutional maturity seen in countries where the system has been successfully implemented.
The Senate on Wednesday passed the executive bill seeking the establishment of state police, marking a significant step toward restructuring Nigeria's policing system.
