Executive Secretary of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, Hon. Henry Nwawuba and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Ibrahim (Rafsanjani), have called on lawmaker to always provide legislative interventions to address the rising insecurity in the council.
They spoke at the 2nd Annual Distinguished Parliamentarian Lecture organised by the House of Representatives Press Corps, themed: “The Imperative for State Police: Securing Communities, Strengthening Federalism.”
Nwawuba, a former member of the House of Representatives
said parliament must respond to Nigeria’s challenge of insecurity through policy and legislative innovation.
The former member of the House of Representatives said the establishment of state police represented an opportunity for Parliament to explore new approaches to addressing insecurity.
Nwawuba, who said he previously chaired the House Committee on Monitoring of the Legislative Agenda, recalled that his committee had undertaken work on security, including examining the overlapping mandates within Nigeria’s security architecture and ways to make policing more effective.
He said the issues were considered from the perspective of constitutional amendment and the emerging legislation on state police.
According to him, Parliament should serve as an engine room for policy innovation, particularly in responding to security challenges.
He said lawmakers could not continue to offer sympathy to victims of insecurity without taking legislative action to address the problem.
“We can’t keep saying our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of insecurity and we call ourselves legislators. We will get tired. After a while it becomes shameful. Is it that there is nothing we can do?” he asked.
Nwawuba said the proposed reform sought to provide policing that responded to the peculiar needs of different regions, noting that similar approaches had been adopted in other countries.
He acknowledged concerns surrounding state police but said adequate attention should be given to funding and other safeguards.
“I do appreciate the concerns that some people have raised but for me as long as we can take care of the issue of funding, I think we should give it a try because insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and think the situation will change,” he said.
Nwawuba said the changing nature of insecurity required Parliament to respond, adding that laws should ultimately serve the interests of the people.
“We have an emerging situation on our hands when it comes to insecurity so the parliament must respond and that is what the parliament is for. Any law that does not serve the people is a bad law,” he said.
For his part, Rafsanjani acknowledged the legislative interventions of both the Senate and House, especially the recent passage of
State Police Bill presently before the State Houses of Assembly, and urged lawmakers to continue with such practical steps to tackle insecurity across the nation.
He said recent data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) indicated that Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis has persisted beyond its 2025 peak.
According to the CISLAC boss,
these realities reinforced the urgency of strengthening policing arrangements that can respond more effectively to the specific security needs of communities.
“For CISLAC the central question should not simply be whether Nigeria needs State Police, but what institutional safeguards, accountability mechanisms and professional standards must accompany its establishment to ensure that decentralised policing strengthens and does not undermine democracy, human rights, federalism and citizens’ security.
“The proposed reform presents significant opportunities. State-level policing could potentially improve local intelligence gathering, shorten response times, deepen community engagement and enable security institutions to better understand local security dynamics. The Federal Government itself has identified decentralised policing as a means of improving grassroots security and intelligence gathering.
“At the same time, the reform demands careful attention to the risks of political interference, selective enforcement, abuse of authority, inadequate funding, weak professional standards and violations of fundamental rights.
“The recent debate around State Police therefore demonstrates why legislative scrutiny, constitutional safeguards and robust oversight are indispensable,” Rafsanjani said.
He also said the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly have a historic responsibility to ensure that the legislative framework provides clear lines of authority, professional recruitment and training standards, transparent funding arrangements, independent oversight, disciplinary mechanisms and effective avenues for citizens to seek redress.
Rafsanjani insisted that State Police must never become an instrument for political intimidation or partisan enforcement but its legitimacy must derive from its service to the law and the people.