By Precious Mark
Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has written to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Dr. George Akume, urging the Federal Government to insulate the proposed state police and other critical national bodies from executive control to prevent them from becoming tools of political oppression.
In the comprehensive memorandum dated June 26, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for transmitting the executive bill to amend Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to introduce state policing.
He, however, warned that without strict constitutional safeguards, state police forces risk being captured by state governors, mirroring the current ineffective state of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and local government administrations across the federation.
To counter this vulnerability, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba recommended that Nigeria adopt South Africa’s “Chapter 9” constitutional model, which establishes independent state bodies that derive their authority directly from the constitution rather than ordinary statutes.
“Critical institutions such as the Nigeria Police Force, INEC, the EFCC, the ICPC, the CBN, the National Judicial Council, the Attorney General, the Accountant General, the National Human Rights Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, 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,” Dr. Olisa Agbakoba stated in the letter.
He argued that the funding for these bodies should be a direct charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, with their ultimate accountability directed to the National Assembly or State Houses of Assembly rather than the President or state governors.
Invoking the concept of limited government championed by the late legal icon, Professor Ben Nwabueze, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba proposed an interlocking tripartite system for the appointment, funding, and removal of police chiefs.
Under his proposed architecture, the Police Service Commission would recommend qualified candidates, the Governor would make the appointment, and the State House of Assembly would confirm it.
Removal would also require the consent of all three arms of government to eliminate unilateral executive sackings.
Beyond policing, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba also tasked the Federal Government to consider further technical devolutions to the subnational governments, including the management of drivers’ licences, prisons, marriage registration, arbitration, and trade regulations, to relieve the federal government of unnecessary administrative weights.