A chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Buba Galadima, has warned that state police will not solve Nigeria's security problems, adding that the creation could become a tool against political opponents.

He said this reaction to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, recently passed by the National Assembly.

The bill is expected to be addressed by the 36 state Houses of Assembly for consideration.

Speaking during an Arise TV interview, Galadima said, “If the Nigerian Police, if the Nigerian Military cannot solve security situations in Nigeria, I wonder how the state police would be able to do that."

The elder statesman alleged that the push for state police was politically motivated, claiming that elected officials could deploy them during the 2027 elections.

“All that we know is that the president and the governors are looking for state police before the elections so that they use them as political thugs to attack the opposition, disrupt the election and kill democracy,” he said.

Galadima also referenced his time under the Native Authority Police, claiming the institution was misused to threaten and arrest political rivals before elections.

“I was adult enough to see what had happened during the Native Authority Police. When elections approached, three months to the election, the Native Authority Police would gather all the opposition elements in their territorial jurisdiction and lock them up.

“Some of them, they would just say, ‘Oh, you have abused the Emir,’ or ‘You have abused the chief,’ or ‘You have abused the judge,’ or that you were wearing shoes when your village head was seated on a chair. Then they would clamp all of them into detention,” he said.

Galadima pointed out that the alleged misuse of the Native Authority Police led to many people migrating from parts of Northern Nigeria. He also warned that state police might intensify ethnic and religious divisions if recruitment is controlled by specific groups within individual states.

“The state police could be used to even destroy the unity of this country because if there are certain states where only one tribe or only one religion will constitute the state police, people from other parts of the country will have no liberty to live and do their businesses as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.