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Governors Get Power to Appoint Police Chiefs, But Firing Them Is Another Matter — Sani

Published

2 months ago

June 25, 2026

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has moved to quell fears that state police will be weaponised by politicians, insisting that the bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday contains strong safeguards against abuse.

Speaking on Channels Television shortly after the Senate approved constitutional amendments to establish state police services across the federation, Governor Sani clarified a key provision of the legislation — while governors may appoint state police commissioners, they cannot remove them on their own.

“I can tell you today that you can appoint the commissioner of police but you cannot sack him, that is the issue,” Sani said. “You can’t even sack him by the state assembly, no. It must be with the approval of the Police Service Commission or Police Council as well as the National Assembly together with the State Assembly.”

He argued that this layered approval process makes it practically impossible for any governor to turn state police into a personal enforcement arm.

Sani expressed strong confidence that Nigerians would come to embrace the state police model, stressing that the initiative carries no political undertones. According to him, the sole aim is to strengthen the protection of lives and property and help tackle the country’s deepening insecurity crisis.

The Senate had on Wednesday passed the bill seeking to establish state police services, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s long-running debate over police decentralisation.