North-Central APC Forum Urges Tinubu, NASS to Reject State Police Proposal

The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to reject mounting demands for the creation of state police, warning that such a move could endanger Nigeria’s democracy and worsen insecurity.

The appeal followed Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s recent call for state police during a special court session in Jos to mark the commencement of the 2025/2026 legal year. Mutfwang argued that state police would help curb insecurity in Plateau and across the country.

But in a statement issued in Abuja, the Forum’s Chairman, Saleh Zazzaga, a member of the APC Campaign Council in the 2023 elections, warned that the proposal would empower governors to use state police as instruments of oppression against minority groups and political opponents.

“Even now, governors misuse the federal police to harass opponents and suppress dissent. Giving them their own police force will only escalate impunity and turn them into dictators,” the statement said.

The Forum further argued that state police could threaten religious freedom in the North-Central region, which is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups. It warned that governors might use the force to marginalize minorities and impose religious dominance.

Describing the proposal as “dangerous and counterproductive,” the group urged Nigerians to resist calls for state police, stressing that it would “derail democracy, criminalise opposition, and undermine the country’s unity.”