The push to establish State Police in Nigeria has advanced, with 28 State Houses of Assembly approving the proposed constitutional amendment, clearing the required two-thirds threshold for the bill to proceed to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, confirmed that the approvals had been received and verified, signalling the commencement of the process to transmit the amendment to the President.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish State Police Services as part of efforts to restructure Nigeria’s policing system and strengthen responses to security challenges across the country.
Ogunlana said the bill was forwarded to the 36 State Houses of Assembly on September 16, with a 30-day period given to the state legislatures to consider and communicate their decisions.
With 28 states now having approved the proposal, the required constitutional threshold has been met.
The Clerk, however, said his office would continue to receive outstanding reports from other states until the bill is formally transmitted to Tinubu for assent.
The development represents a major step in the long-running debate over decentralising policing in Nigeria, where security responsibilities are largely concentrated in the federal government through the Nigeria Police Force.
The proposed State Police framework is intended to give states a formal policing structure to address security concerns within their respective jurisdictions.
Its proponents have maintained that decentralised policing could bring law enforcement closer to communities and strengthen local responses to crime and insecurity.
The next stage will involve the completion of the National Assembly’s transmission process and presidential consideration of the constitutional amendment.
