A Lagos-based legal practitioner and public interest advocate, Chief Malcolm Emokiniovo Omirhobo, has warned Nigerian governors to fully obey Supreme Court judgments on local government autonomy before pushing for the establishment of state police.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, Omirhobo described as “ironic and alarming” the growing agitation for state police by governors who, he said, routinely disobey court orders, particularly the Supreme Court’s recent ruling affirming the financial and administrative autonomy of local governments.
He said the call by President Bola Tinubu urging governors to comply with the apex court’s judgment exposes a fundamental contradiction in the ongoing debate over Nigeria’s security architecture.
“The recent directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging state governors to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court on local government autonomy, exposes a dangerous contradiction at the heart of Nigeria’s governance debate,” Omirhobo said.
According to him, governors who fail to respect the authority of the Supreme Court lack the moral and constitutional standing to control an armed police force.
“Let this be stated plainly and without equivocation: Any governor who cannot obey a Supreme Court judgment has no moral, legal, or constitutional capacity to control an armed police force,” he declared.
Omirhobo stressed that local government autonomy is not a privilege granted by governors but a constitutional obligation that has now been firmly reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. He described the need for presidential intervention to enforce compliance as an indictment of state governments.
“Local government autonomy is not a favour from governors; it is a constitutional command,” he said. “The fact that the President must threaten an executive order to enforce compliance is itself an indictment of state governors who routinely undermine constitutional governance for political convenience.”
The lawyer warned that granting state police powers to governors who disregard the rule of law could deepen repression and threaten democracy.
“Nigeria’s Constitution is founded on the rule of law, not the rule of governors,” he said. “If governors can seize local government funds in defiance of the Supreme Court, what will stop them from weaponising state police against political opponents, minorities, journalists and civil society?”
He argued that rather than improving security, state police under such conditions could worsen abuse of power.
“State police in the hands of lawless governors will not enhance security,” Omirhobo warned. “It will institutionalise oppression, entrench authoritarianism and accelerate national disintegration.”
Omirhobo further cautioned against misinterpreting federalism as unchecked decentralisation, insisting that accountability must remain central to any restructuring of Nigeria’s governance system.
“Federalism does not mean fragmentation of authority without accountability,” he said. “Decentralisation without constitutional discipline is not reform; it is a threat.”
He concluded that obedience to court orders and respect for constitutional provisions must come before any serious consideration of state police.
“Until Nigerian governors demonstrate full obedience to court orders, respect for local government autonomy and fidelity to the 1999 Constitution, the agitation for state police remains reckless, premature and dangerous,” Omirhobo said.
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