The Kogi State Government has hailed President Bola Tinubu’s push for the creation of state police, describing it as a generational reform that could fundamentally reshape Nigeria’s security architecture.

In a statement by the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, the government commended Tinubu for restating his commitment to decentralising policing during a high-level meeting with governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Fanwo said the President’s stance reflects a clear understanding that Nigeria’s security challenges have outgrown the capacity of a centralised police structure. According to him, state-controlled police formations would enable more effective community-based responses, deepen intelligence gathering and strengthen internal security across all regions.

The Kogi government noted that Tinubu’s renewed push comes as the National Assembly continues work on the constitutional and legislative amendments required to give legal backing to state police. It described the move as a bold and strategic step toward long-term national stability, arguing that no meaningful development can occur without security.

The administration of Governor Ahmed Ododo, Fanwo stressed, fully aligns with the President’s vision and is prepared to support every necessary reform to bring security closer to the grassroots. He said the state views the proposed decentralisation of policing as a decisive intervention capable of significantly dismantling entrenched insecurity.

Fanwo also linked the security initiative to Tinubu’s broader economic and financial sector reforms, portraying state police as a natural extension of the administration’s national renewal agenda. He pledged Kogi’s readiness to cooperate with the Presidency and the National Assembly to ensure the proposal moves from policy to reality.

The state government further argued that sustained collaboration between federal and state authorities would not only tackle immediate threats such as banditry, kidnapping and communal clashes, but also lay the groundwork for lasting peace, security and development.

Following Tinubu’s renewed assurance on state police, the Kogi State House of Assembly has promised to give any enabling bill an accelerated hearing once it is transmitted for consideration, signalling legislative backing at the state level for the far-reaching security reform.