{"id":127958,"date":"2026-06-26T15:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=127958"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:40:10","slug":"obi-urges-delay-in-state-police-implementation-until-after-2027-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/obi-urges-delay-in-state-police-implementation-until-after-2027-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Obi Urges Delay in State Police Implementation Until After 2027 Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By John Azu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has called for the implementation of the proposed State Police law to be deferred until after the 2027 general election, citing fears that it could be exploited for political purposes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a post on X, reposted on Friday by the Peter Obi Media Room (POMR) and signed by Idris Zekeri Jnr, Obi described the passage of the State Police Bill by the House of Representatives as a commendable step towards addressing Nigeria&#8217;s security challenges but warned that the legislative process lacked transparency and adequate safeguards.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the statement titled,\u00a0<em>&#8220;State Police: Commendable Step, But Disorderly Legislation Raises Concerns of Political Misuse,&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0Obi said Nigeria&#8217;s highly centralised policing system has long been unsuitable for a country of its size and diversity, making state policing a necessary reform.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, he argued that the process leading to the bill&#8217;s passage was flawed, alleging that there was no public hearing on such a critical piece of legislation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;The process should involve greater community participation. Policing should be more visible at the local government and community levels. The mechanism for passing the law appears highly disorganised, with no public hearing on such a sensitive issue,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Obi, the hurried legislative process has fuelled suspicions that the proposed law could be politically motivated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He expressed concern that state police forces could become tools in the hands of state governors to intimidate political opponents, suppress opposition activities and influence election outcomes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Obi stressed that any state policing framework must include strong institutional safeguards, including independent state Police Service Commissions insulated from executive control, to ensure accountability and prevent abuse.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;Going by what Nigerians have seen so far, there is no guarantee that this administration can resist the temptation to take advantage of state policing to influence the 2027 general election by proxy,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He therefore urged that the implementation of the law be postponed until after the 2027 polls, arguing that such a delay would help build public confidence in the reform and prevent it from becoming a source of political controversy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;A New Nigeria is Possible,&#8221; Obi concluded.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Azu The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has called for the implementation of the proposed State Police law to be deferred until after&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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