State police: NASS sends bill to 36 states’ assemblies

The National Assembly is set to transmit the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking the establishment of state police to the 36 state Houses of Assembly this week, marking the next critical stage of one of Nigeria’s most far-reaching security reforms.

The development comes days after the Senate passed the landmark constitutional amendment, with lawmakers now racing to secure the approval of at least 24 state legislatures before the bill can be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramodu, disclosed the development in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, saying all the necessary arrangements had been concluded for the transmission.

According to him, the state legislatures and governors were already awaiting the bill following consultations held ahead of its passage by the National Assembly.

The bill for the creation of state police will get to the states this week. The states’ speakers have met and are awaiting the bill from the National Assembly.

“The state governors are expecting it too, even with their presence in the Senate chamber when the bill was being considered and passed,” Adaramodu said.

The planned transmission signals the beginning of the final constitutional hurdle for the proposed amendment, which requires endorsement by not less than two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly in line with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution before it can become law.

Momentum has continued to build behind the proposal since the Senate approved the amendment after a clause-by-clause consideration of the report presented by the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.

The legislation seeks to establish a dual policing structure that will empower state governments to establish and maintain police services within their jurisdictions while preserving the constitutional responsibilities of the Nigeria Police Force over national security matters such as terrorism, border security, cybercrime, arms trafficking and other federal offences.

To address longstanding concerns over possible abuse by state governments, lawmakers incorporated several safeguards into the bill, including provisions prohibiting state police authorities from targeting individuals or groups for criticising governments and empowering the Federal Government to intervene in cases involving threats to national security, breakdown of public order or violations of fundamental human rights.

The proposed reform has received unprecedented backing from governors, speakers of state legislatures and major political stakeholders across the country.

The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures in Nigeria had earlier endorsed the bill, with its Chairman and Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, assuring Nigerians that all state houses of assembly would give the proposal diligent consideration.

Several governors have also welcomed the amendment, describing it as a timely response to worsening insecurity across the federation.

Among them, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, described the Senate’s passage of the bill as a landmark step towards strengthening Nigeria’s security architecture, arguing that state police would possess a better understanding of local terrain and community dynamics, thereby improving intelligence gathering and response to criminal activities.

Similarly, the Forum of Progressive Speakers of State Legislatures under the All Progressives Congress pledged to facilitate speedy ratification in APC-controlled houses of assembly while promising robust oversight mechanisms to ensure professionalism and respect for human rights.

The Labour Party also threw its weight behind the proposal, describing the Senate’s action as a significant milestone in the quest to strengthen internal security through community-based policing.

Though it acknowledged concerns over possible abuse by governors, the party expressed confidence in the constitutional safeguards embedded in the amendment.

The proposal also attracted opposition from the Peoples Redemption Party, which questioned the timing of the initiative and urged Nigerians to reject it, arguing that the current administration lacks the credibility to oversee such a fundamental restructuring of the country’s policing system.

Despite the reservations expressed by critics, the planned transmission of the bill to the states this week is expected to trigger deliberations across the 36 Houses of Assembly, where lawmakers will conduct public hearings, stakeholder engagements and legislative scrutiny before voting on the constitutional amendment.

If at least 24 state assemblies endorse the proposal, it will pave the way for President Bola Tinubu’s assent, potentially ending decades of debate over the decentralisation of policing and ushering in what many stakeholders believe could be the most significant reform of Nigeria’s internal security architecture since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Sunday defended the passage of the state police bill, insisting that its passage, which 84 senators supported, is a response to Nigeria’s worsening security challenges.

The upper chamber said the bill emerged from years of consultations, public engagements, and broad national consensus, stressing that it would be wrong to delay the proposal for political calculations ahead  of the 2027 general election.

The position comes amid growing debate over the constitutional amendment bill, with supporters arguing that decentralising policing will improve security at the grassroots, while critics fear that state police could be abused by governors to intimidate political opponents.

Defending the Senate’s decision in a statement issued by his media office on Sunday, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the proposal was “purely a child of necessity and not of political expediency as well as a product of national consensus and not of cynicism.”

He maintained that the establishment of state police had become a matter of urgent national importance that should not be sacrificed because of anyone’s political ambition.

According to him, the process leading to the passage of the bill did not begin recently but evolved through extensive constitutional review engagements involving key stakeholders across the country.

Despite some dissenting views, Bamidele said observations had shown that Nigerians largely welcomed the passage of the bill with the belief that it would significantly improve security at the sub-national level.

He said, “The state police proposal was part of memoranda submitted to the Senate Ad hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution. The memorandum had been subjected to a rigorous process and multi-tiered consultation across the federation due to its sensitive nature.

During this process, the National Assembly broadly consulted the executive, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of the State Legislatures of Nigeria and the leadership of the Nigeria Police, among others.

“In July 2025, the National Assembly conducted public hearings in all geopolitical zones, and the participants overwhelmingly approved it.

“At each level of our consultation, nearly all stakeholders embraced the State Police Bill in the light of stark realities we are facing today.”

The Senate Leader said the Nigerian Police actively contributed to the drafting of the constitutional amendment by offering recommendations that helped lawmakers build safeguards against potential abuse of state police by political actors.

According to him, those recommendations formed part of accountability and oversight mechanisms embedded in the legislation to ensure that state police operate within constitutional limits.

He added that the willingness of the Nigerian Police to support the proposal underscored its strategic importance in addressing insecurity at the local and state levels.

Beyond the contributions of the police hierarchy, Bamidele said the bill was subjected to extensive debates in both chambers of the National Assembly before its eventual passage.

He noted that support for the legislation cut across party lines.

He said: “Even though the APC is the majority, there are members of opposition parties – PDP, ADC, NDC and Labour Party – that exercised their discretion in favour of the Bill, mainly in the national interest and not on a parochial basis.

“In the Senate, for instance, 84 out of 109 members voted clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06 per cent approval at the Senate alone.”

Bamidele argued that security should transcend political affiliations, noting that countries facing security threats often unite behind reforms aimed at strengthening national safety.

Globally, he said, security “is a collective public good that benefits citizenry across ethnic, political and religious divides.

“Political actors elsewhere always throw off their togas of partisanship and parochialism to support initiatives that will boost and reinforce national security.”

He, therefore, urged opposition parties to contribute constructive ideas that would strengthen peace and stability across the federation rather than oppose initiatives solely on political grounds.