The National Assembly is preparing to transmit the State Police (Constitution Alteration) Bill, 2026, to President Bola Tinubu for assent, according to multiple parliamentary officials reported by Punch. The legislature has secured the required two-thirds approval from state houses, a constitutional threshold necessary to amend the 1999 Constitution. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele confirmed that the bill has crossed this barrier, stating that no fewer than 32 state houses have approved the measure. He emphasized that the assembly is now under obligation to transmit the bill to the president in the interest of national peace and stability.
The push to decentralize policing gained urgency as the November 15 deadline for state communications expired. While Bamidele initially noted that four state houses were pending reports, sources within the National Assembly indicated that the number of approving states may have risen to 34. Punch reported that Cross River and Niger were the only states yet to formally approve the bill. Despite this, officials confirmed that the constitutional requirement of 24 state approvals has been met, meaning no further legislative action is needed before the bill is forwarded.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had previously warned that states failing to respond by the deadline would be deemed to have withheld approval. However, Bamidele suggested that the remaining states might be given until Tuesday, November 17, to submit their reports. He described the current week as decisive, noting that the assembly was ready to proceed regardless of the final two responses. The leadership intends to direct the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, to transmit the bill to the president.
The proposed amendment seeks to establish Federal Police Service and State Police Services, marking a significant restructuring of Nigeria’s centralized policing system. This move comes amid persistent security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism, which have overwhelmed federal security agencies. Previous attempts to decentralize policing faced resistance due to concerns about political interference and the potential misuse of state security apparatus against opponents. Bamidele addressed these fears, clarifying that the arrangement aims to create community-based policing structures operating within constitutional safeguards rather than ethnic armies.