In a public memorandum dated June 15, 2026 and addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Nigerians, Ezekwesili said that while State Police may be necessary, it is not sufficient to address the country’s security challenges, which she described as symptoms of deeper constitutional, governance and political economy failures.
Citing recent Afrobarometer findings, she said 79 per cent of Nigerians consider kidnapping and abduction a serious national problem, 33 per cent personally know someone who has been kidnapped within the last five years, while 63 per cent said they or a family member felt unsafe in their homes or neighbourhoods during the previous year.
According to Ezekwesili, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, violent extremism, communal conflicts and organised criminality have overwhelmed the capacity of a centrally controlled police force, but the country’s security crisis is fundamentally linked to deeper structural problems within the federation.
She argued that insecurity is inseparable from what she described as an over-centralised federal arrangement that concentrates excessive authority, fiscal resources and political power at the centre.
The former minister pointed to the 1999 Constitution, noting that the Exclusive Legislative List contains 68 items reserved solely for the Federal Government, while policing is only one of several strategic functions under federal control.
She said prisons, mines and minerals, railways, arms and ammunition, among other sectors, also remain exclusively controlled by the Federal Government, arguing that removing policing from the Exclusive Legislative List without broader reforms would amount to addressing only one aspect of a much larger constitutional challenge.
According to her, the concentration of powers at the centre was largely inherited from decades of military rule and preserved under the 1999 Constitution, resulting in what she described as “a unitary system wearing federal clothing.”
Ezekwesili argued that the same constitutional structure responsible for insecurity has also contributed to economic underperformance, weak public service delivery, fiscal dependency, poor accountability and reduced subnational productivity.
She further noted that insecurity, once concentrated largely in the North-East and parts of the North-West, has spread across virtually all geopolitical zones, including increasing incidents of kidnapping in parts of the South-West.
The former minister said the national conversation should move beyond the question of whether Nigeria should establish State Police and focus instead on whether the country is prepared to redesign a constitutional order that has concentrated too much power at the centre and constrained development.
She called for a comprehensive restructuring agenda anchored on a new constitutional settlement that would rebalance the Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual Legislative Lists, devolve powers to lower levels of government, strengthen fiscal federalism, guarantee equal citizenship and promote productivity and competitiveness.
Ezekwesili also advocated a citizens-led Sovereign National Conference and a referendum on a new constitution, which she said would restore sovereignty to the Nigerian people through a citizen-driven constitutional process.
She added that she would outline immediate steps towards the restructuring agenda and constitutional reform process in a subsequent public memorandum.