Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate and NDC flagbearer Peter Obi has called on the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the newly passed State Police law until after the 2027 general elections, warning it could be weaponised by governors to suppress political opposition.
Peter Obi wants the brakes applied — and fast.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate and former Labour Party flagbearer has urged the Federal Government to pause the rollout of the newly passed State Police law until after the 2027 general elections, cautioning that rushing its implementation could hand sitting governors a powerful tool for political mischief.
In a statement posted on his official page, as reported by Daily Post, Obi warned that deploying state-controlled police forces before the next general election cycle creates a dangerous opening for abuse — one that Nigeria’s fragile democracy can ill afford.
According to Obi, implementing the new State Police law before the next general election could allow governors to deploy state-controlled police forces to intimidate political opponents, disrupt opposition activities and influence elections.
It’s a pointed concern — and not an entirely unfamiliar one. Nigeria has a well-documented history of security forces being deployed to serve political interests rather than public safety, and critics of the state police model have long flagged the risk of turning what should be a community protection tool into a gubernatorial enforcement arm.
Obi’s position puts him in an interesting spot. He has not opposed state policing as a concept — decentralising security has broad support across the political spectrum as a response to Nigeria’s mounting insecurity crisis. But his argument is essentially one of timing and safeguards: get the architecture right first, run the 2027 elections under neutral conditions, then flip the switch.
The concern is straightforward — give governors their own police forces months before a highly contested election, and the temptation to misuse them may prove irresistible.
For a man positioning himself as the alternative to Nigeria’s establishment politics, Obi’s warning carries weight. Whether the Federal Government is listening is another matter entirely.
The 2027 election season is already heating up. And if state police arrive before the votes are counted, the game — some fear — could be rigged before it even begins.
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