*Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a legal luminary and human rights lawyer, opines that beyond devolved policing, Nigeria should consider also technical devolutions, including technical devolutions, such as drivers’ licences, prisons, marriage registration, arbitration, trade regulation, registration of business names, and other matters best suited for states and local governments for more efficient management
Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect
Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a legal luminary and human rights lawyer, has urged the Nigerian Government to constitutionally protect its institutions from executive control to advance democratic governance.
ConsumerConnect reports Dr. Agbakoba stated this in his open letter dated June 26, 2026, and addressed to Senator (Dr.) George Akume, CON, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
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The human rights advocate, in the letter titled: “Beyond State Police: Why Nigeria Must Constitutionally Insulate Its Institutions From Executive Interference”, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for transmitting to the National Assembly (NASS) an Executive Bill, proposing the amendment of Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to introduce the long-awaited state police system.
He also said: “This is a welcome development that will, if properly implemented, enhance public security and bring law enforcement closer to the communities it serves.”
According to Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), beyond the question of state police, the moment also invites a broader conversation.
Other reforms worthy of consideration
The legal icon equally contended that having devolved policing, the West African country should consider further technical devolutions, such as drivers’ licences, prisons, marriage registration, arbitration, trade regulation, registration of business names, and all other matters best suited for states and local governments.
He explained the move would relieve the Federal Government of responsibilities that could be more efficiently managed at the subnational level?
These are reforms worth serious consideration.
He, however, emphasised that the well-founded concern that state police may go the way of State Independent Electoral Commissions and local governments, institutions established with good intentions but ultimately captured by state executives and rendered ineffective.
Agbakoba stated: “Devolution without institutional protection is reform in name only, and history has shown that where institutions lack genuine constitutional protection, they inevitably become instruments of executive power rather than servants of the people and the Constitution.
Nigeria need not look far for a tested solution.
On the South African Constitution model
Referencing the Southern African country’s legal instrument, Agbakoba disclosed the Constitution of South Africa offers an instructive model.
He noted that Chapter 9, titled: “Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy”, establishes and protects a range of independent state institutions, including the Public Protector, the Human Rights Commission, the Electoral Commission, and the Auditor General, and crucially insulates them from executive interference.
Said he: “These institutions are not merely created by statute.
“They derive their independence directly from the Constitution itself, with security of tenure for their heads, guaranteed funding, and accountability to Parliament rather than to the executive.”
The legal expert further noted the result is that in South Africa, neither the President nor any provincial governor could dictate to or manipulate these critical institutions.
Nigeria should adopt this model, he stated.
Some Nigeria’s critical institutions for insulation from executive control
He maintained that critical institutions, such as the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), INEC, the EFCC, the ICPC, the CBN, the National Judicial Council, the Attorney-General, the Accountant General, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the Office of the Public Defender, which are currently listed under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution as executive institutions, should be insulated from executive control.
They should be established as constitutionally protected institutions that consolidate democracy, noted Dr. Agbakoba.
He explained that these institutions should enjoy security of tenure, their funding should be a direct charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and their accountability should be under the supervision of the National Assembly or the State Houses of Assembly, and not the President or any Governor.
Agbakoba stated: “This process has been described by Professor Ben Nwabueze as the concept of limited government, which is the principle that executive power is not at large but is constrained by independent institutions guaranteed by the Constitution.
“If the proposed state police framework is built on this constitutional architecture of independence and accountability, it is a welcome and progressive development.”
According to him, if not, if state police are simply handed to governors without these protections, they will inevitably become tools of oppression, and Nigeria will have traded one problem for a far worse one.
“What we recommend is an interlocking appointment, funding, and removal process like that which governs the Judiciary, in which all three arms of government play a defined and balancing role,” he asserted.
He said taking the state police as an example, the Police Service Commission would identify and recommend suitably qualified candidates to the Governor; the Governor would exercise the power of appointment; and the State House of Assembly would confirm the appointment.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria recommended that the same tripartite structure should govern removal, so that no single arm of government could unilaterally install or dislodge the head of the police.
Agbakoba averred: “This architecture of shared constitutional responsibility is the surest guarantee against executive capture and the politicisation of law enforcement.
“I trust that this submission will receive the attention it deserves, and that the Federal Government will give serious consideration to the constitutional reforms proposed herein.”