The Senate has assured Nigerians that legislation establishing state police will be enacted before the end of the year, following the approval of the constitutional amendment by the required 24 state Houses of Assembly.
The assurance came on Monday as the Ondo State House of Assembly passed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which seeks to establish State Police Services across the country.
The bill was passed during plenary after successfully scaling its second and third readings, with unanimous support from all members present.
Prior to Ondo’s approval, the amendment had already been endorsed by the Houses of Assembly in Osun, Adamawa, Delta, Edo, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Zamfara, Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Ekiti, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Abia, Yobe, and Kaduna States, thereby meeting the constitutional requirement of approval by at least two-thirds of state legislatures.
Speaking recently in an interview, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, reaffirmed the National Assembly’s commitment to completing the legislative process before the Christmas recess.
According to Adaramodu, the state police initiative remains a key priority in the ongoing constitutional review and will receive expedited consideration once the necessary proposals are transmitted by the executive arm of government.
“The state police bill is currently at the forefront of the constitutional review process. We have assured Nigerians that before the end of the life of the 10th National Assembly, a new policing framework will be in place. In fact, we expect the process to be concluded before the Christmas break,” he said.
His comments followed the submission of the draft National Policing Bill, 2026, and 29 related amendment bills by the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill to the Federal Ministry of Justice for legislative review and validation.
The working group, chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed that the validated drafts are expected from the Ministry of Justice by October 30. Following final review, the bills will be presented to President Bola Tinubu for approval and subsequent transmission to the National Assembly.
While Gbajabiamila had earlier indicated that the proposed legislation was about 90 percent complete and could be sent to the National Assembly by October 29, Adaramodu declined to comment on the executive’s timetable, noting that the Senate would respond only after formally receiving the bills.
Addressing concerns about delays in obtaining state-level approvals, Adaramodu explained that the 30-day timeline was intended solely to allow state legislatures to submit their inputs and observations.
He expressed confidence that the process would be concluded before year-end, emphasizing that the proposed law is critical to strengthening Nigeria’s response to growing security challenges.
“There is no cause for concern. As promised, the policing bill will be treated expeditiously and will become law before the end of the year. We are fully committed to seeing it through,” he stated.
Adaramodu also stressed the importance of stakeholder engagement, noting that the legislation would affect communities nationwide and therefore requires broad-based input before final passage.
According to him, the establishment of state police would significantly enhance the enforcement of security laws and strengthen efforts to combat killings, kidnappings, banditry, and terrorism.
“We have enacted several laws aimed at deterring criminal activities. What remains is effective enforcement. State police will provide a more responsive and efficient security structure than the current centralized policing system, bringing law enforcement closer to the people,” he added.
Similarly, Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central, stated that approval by 24 state assemblies means the constitutional amendment has satisfied the required threshold and will now return to the National Assembly for verification.
Umeh noted that the National Assembly supports decentralized policing due to Nigeria’s size and the need to bring security operations closer to local communities.
“A country as large as Nigeria cannot continue to rely solely on a centralized police force. State policing will strengthen grassroots security, improve intelligence gathering, and allow for faster responses to criminal activities,” he said.
He further argued that locally recruited and deployed officers would be better positioned to understand the terrain, identify security threats, and leverage community intelligence for effective policing.
The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to revise Section 214 of the Constitution by replacing the existing Nigeria Police Force with a Federal Police Service and separate State Police Services.
The Senate passed the Sixth Alteration Bill on June 24, followed by the House of Representatives. The National Assembly subsequently transmitted the proposal to all 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration.
In Ondo State, the Majority Leader of the House, Olatunji Oshati, moved the motion for the bill’s passage, which was seconded by Allen Oluwatoyin, representing Ese Odo State Constituency.
Oshati said lawmakers had carefully examined the implications of the amendment and concluded that state police would provide a more effective response to the nation’s security challenges.
In his remarks, Speaker Olamide Oladiji described the establishment of state police as long overdue, stating that it would enable quicker responses to crime and other security threats while improving intelligence gathering and proactive security measures.
Following the bill’s passage, the Speaker directed the Clerk of the House, Benjamin Jaiyeola, to transmit the resolution and the Assembly’s observations to the National Assembly for further legislative action.
With the constitutional requirement of approval by at least 24 state legislatures now achieved, attention shifts to the National Assembly, which says it is committed to completing the legislative process and enacting the state police framework before the end of the year.
