Charles Omole, Director-General of the Institute for Police and Security Policy Research (IPSPR), has rejected allegations that President Bola Tinubu’s push for state police is a ploy to manipulate the 2027 general election, branding the claims as unfounded and unworkable.

The proposed legislation, which has already cleared both the House and Senate, seeks to amend Section 214 of the constitution to establish both federal and state police services. Appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Omole argued that the constitutional, legal, and operational hurdles make it impossible for any state to field a functioning state police force before the next election cycle. “I do not see any state having state police before the next election, so those who are driving the fact that maybe the President is doing it so that he can use it for the next election, that can’t happen because the technicalities are just not there,” the lawyer said on Monday.

Dismissing the rigging narrative outright, Omole said, “It is not true. It is practically impossible to do it.” He further questioned the logic behind the allegation, asking: “If you are the President and, in quote, ‘you want to rig an election’, is it not easier for you to use one police force that you control? Why will you want to create 36 police services? It’s a more convoluted way to do it.”

Instead, Omole suggested that President Tinubu’s real objective may be to finalise the legal groundwork for state policing before his current term ends, allowing for swift implementation should he secure re-election. “I think what the President probably wants to do is finalise every legal framework so that when the next term starts, if he wins the election, it’s just straight to implementation. We are no longer doing any paperwork,” he explained.

Omole also called for the establishment of a federal reform technical team to redesign policing, warning that simply replicating the Nigeria Police structure at the state level—without addressing operational complexities such as jurisdiction and weapons—could worsen security challenges. While opposition figures including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar have cautioned that the reform could be exploited for political purposes if rushed, the National Assembly has maintained that the legislation is a necessary response to Nigeria’s security challenges rather than a politically motivated initiative.