Nigeria's state police amendment clears 28 state assemblies and heads toward Tinubu

Nigeria's National Assembly said on Tuesday, Nov. 3, that 28 of the country's 36 state legislatures have approved a constitutional amendment that would let states run their own police forces. That is four more than the two-thirds the constitution requires. The bill now moves toward President Bola Tinubu, who first sent the proposal to lawmakers, for his signature.

If it becomes law, the change would end Nigeria's fully centralized policing system, in which one federal force, the Nigeria Police Force, answers to the Inspector-General of Police in Abuja. Supporters across several parties say states need forces that know local ground and languages to fight kidnapping, banditry and insurgency. Critics, including rights groups and some opposition parties, say governors could turn state police against their rivals, especially with general elections due in 2027.

This story sets out what was announced, how the process has worked, what the bill would do, and the main arguments for and against it.

What the National Assembly announced

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said in a statement that his office had received and verified reports from 28 State Houses of Assembly approving the bill, Premium Times reported. The office checked each state's Votes and Proceedings, the official record of a legislature's decisions, to confirm that the records matched what each assembly had decided.

"This represents more than the constitutionally prescribed threshold of not less than two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly, equivalent to 24 States," the statement said. Under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, an amendment needs the backing of at least two-thirds of the state legislatures after it passes both chambers of the National Assembly.

0

10

20

30

Approvals required (two-thirds)24

Approvals received and verified28

Not reported as approving8

Approvals required (two-thirds)Approvals received and verifiedNot reported as approving

Source: Premium Times, citing the Clerk to the National Assembly

Show the numbers

Measure	State assemblies
Approvals required (two-thirds)	24
Approvals received and verified	28
Not reported as approving	8

The bill is formally titled the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026. It was sent to the states on Sept. 16. The clerk's office asked them to respond within 30 days, a window that closed on Oct. 15. That period was an administrative timeframe, not a constitutional deadline, and the office said it will keep accepting state reports until the bill goes to the president.

The statement also addressed a procedural point. "Section 9 of the Constitution does not expressly prescribe a Third Reading for a Constitution Alteration Bill, unlike the procedure applicable to ordinary Bills," Ogunlana said, according to TheCable. He said his office was taking the administrative steps to send the bill to Tinubu under the Acts Authentication Act, the law that governs how passed bills are certified and sent for assent. The Guardian of Nigeria carried the same account.

Differing counts and a remaining step

The clerk's figure of 28 is lower than one given a week earlier by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele. Speaking on Oct. 29 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State, Bamidele said "no fewer than 30 states" had approved the bill, The Guardian reported. The clerk's office says its 28 are reports that it has received and verified. This story found no explanation for the gap. It may reflect approvals that were announced but not yet formally sent to Abuja, but that is not confirmed.

The two statements also describe the next step differently. Bamidele said on Oct. 29 that the two chambers would collate the state reports and pass a resolution by simple majority before sending the bill to the president, all "on or before December 2026." Premium Times reported on Tuesday that he repeated the plan to send it to Tinubu before December. The clerk's statement, by contrast, stressed that Section 9 requires no third reading and that steps toward transmission were already under way. It is not yet clear whether the chambers will hold a further vote.

Earlier counts show how quickly the approvals came in. On Oct. 26, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who chairs the House committee on constitution review, confirmed 24 approvals, The Guardian reported on Oct. 27. Ondo then made 25. The paper listed the states that had and had not passed the bill as of Oct. 26:

Since then, the Lagos assembly approved the bill on Oct. 27 and the Bauchi assembly on Oct. 28, Punch reported. The clerk has not published the full list of 28.

How the bill got here

The Senate passed the bill on June 24 after a clause-by-clause review, with more than two-thirds of senators voting in favor by a manual vote on the floor, Punch reported. The House of Representatives approved it on July 23, according to Premium Times. The House first rescinded its own earlier version and adopted the executive proposal sent by Tinubu. Members of the House Minority Caucus walked out over concerns about the voting process, Premium Times reported. Some outlets have given an earlier date for the House vote. This story uses July 23, the date of the final House passage of the executive version as reported by Premium Times.

1. June 24Senate passes the bill
2. July 23House passes the executive version
3. Sept. 16Bill sent to the 36 state assemblies
4. Oct. 15Clerk's 30-day administrative window closes
5. Oct. 26Deputy Speaker Kalu confirms 24 approvals
6. Nov. 3Clerk reports 28 verified approvals

Source: Premium Times, Punch, The Guardian

Nigeria has debated state police for years. Bamidele told the Kuru audience that more than 15 years of efforts to create state police through constitutional change had failed. Tinubu has backed the idea since he was governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007, Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said in June, as quoted by Vanguard. The same constitution review has produced other proposals, including a bill to add reserved seats for women that is now before lawmakers.

What the amendment would do

The bill would create a dual structure: a Federal Police Service and State Police Services in states that choose to set them up. Governors would appoint state police commissioners on the recommendation of the relevant police service commission, subject to confirmation by the state assembly, Premium Times reported. The bill also sets a framework for governors to give lawful directions on public safety and public order.

In June, Bamidele described how work would be split, according to a statement from his office quoted by Punch:

• State police would enforce state laws, maintain public safety and order, prevent and detect crime within the state, and protect lives and property.
• Federal police would protect federal institutions and handle counter-terrorism, organized crime, cybercrime, border security, arms trafficking, crimes across state lines and other national security matters.

The bill also includes guardrails. Bamidele said it bars governors from using state police for "partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional, or personal purposes." Federal police could step in only in set cases: an outright breakdown of public order in a state, a state police service that cannot function, a serious violation of fundamental rights, "an established record of electoral intimidation," or a threat to national security. Any such move would need the president's written approval, would be limited in scope and duration, and would be subject to Senate oversight and judicial review.

The amendment alone would not create any force. A draft National Policing Bill, 2026, and 29 consequential amendment bills still need to be considered, The Guardian reported. Olu Ogunsakin, who heads the Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat, told the paper that states would not automatically qualify to set up a service. Each would have to meet set institutional and governance standards, he said.

The case for state police

Backers argue that a single force run from Abuja cannot police a country of Nigeria's size. Kalu said in a post quoted by The Guardian that state police "will bring policing closer to the people, improve local intelligence gathering, speed up response to threats, and let states design security strategies for their own unique challenges."

Bamidele said in Kuru that state forces would know local terrain, speak local languages and respond to local concerns. He also said state police would not amount to state armies or weaken the federal government. Support crosses party lines. In the June Senate debate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe said he had once opposed state police but now saw it as needed, and former Sokoto governor Aminu Tambuwal said he had long backed it, Punch reported. The Labour Party's spokesman, Ken Asogwa, called the bill "the most consequential piece of legislation passed by the National Assembly since 1999, if not 1979," Vanguard reported. He added that "with the right institutional guardrails, the possibility of executive excesses at the state level will be diminished."

Some supporters want the bill to go further. The Speaker of the Lagos assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, backed it but said it should give states "greater authority in managing their security systems." He warned that leaving too much power at the federal level could undermine the purpose of state police, Punch reported.

The case for caution or opposition

Critics divide into two groups. Some oppose the plan under the current government. Others back state police but want stronger safeguards first.

The Peoples Redemption Party is in the first group. Its national chairman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said in June that "this administration lacks the moral assets and the trust of Nigerians to undertake a major shift in the policing structure of the country," and called the plan "suspicious," Vanguard reported. The Coalition of United Political Parties, through its acting chairman Peter Ameh, called the reform hasty and urged the government to first deliver on promises to recruit and fund the federal police. The NNPP's national secretary, Dipo Olayoku, warned: "The 2027 general elections are just around the corner, we must ensure governors don't pack their political thugs into the State Police."

The rights group HURIWA is in the second group. Its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, welcomed state police but told The Guardian that general assurances are not enough. He proposed that state police funding be protected through a first-line charge on federal allocations, so governors cannot use budgets to pressure commanders. He also called for state police commissions insulated from governors to handle appointments, discipline and removals. "The state police must never be converted to political parties' armed sections," he said.

Others raise practical doubts. Retired Commissioner of Police Balarabe Sule said many states struggle to pay the national minimum wage and "will not have the resources to equip and pay" new officers, Vanguard reported. Retired Assistant Inspector-General Tony Olofo told The Guardian the idea was "noble," but said leaders had "not really asked ourselves why the national policing is failing."

Questions about the text

Two legal concerns have been raised in Nigerian coverage. First, political scientist Kamilu Sani Fagge of Bayero University, Kano, told The Guardian there were allegations that the bill had been changed after the states approved it, and urged that the approved version be shared with the assemblies. Lawyer Biodun Layonu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said that if any change, "even if such alterations involve only the insertion of a comma," was made after state approval, the bill should go back to the states. These are allegations reported by The Guardian; this story found no evidence either way, and the National Assembly has not addressed them in the statements reviewed.

Second, Fagge questioned the speed of the process before the 2027 elections. He said fast-tracking the reform "will raise concerns" among governors and the public, particularly in northern Nigeria. Nine of the 11 states listed as not having passed the bill by Oct. 26 are in Nigeria's three northern geopolitical zones. That pattern alone does not show why those assemblies had not acted.

What we do not know

• Which states approved. The clerk has not published the list of 28 or said how the remaining eight acted.
• The final step. It is unclear whether the two chambers will vote again before the bill goes to Tinubu. Tinubu proposed the bill, but his office had not announced a signing date in the sources reviewed.
• The enabling laws. The National Policing Bill and 29 related bills will decide funding, oversight and how federal and state forces work together.
• Public opinion. This story found no recent representative poll on state police.

The House is led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the Senate by Godswill Akpabio. Profiles of President Tinubu and other figures in this story are on 567politics. Our methodology page explains how we source and label claims.

Differing perspectives

Should Nigeria's state police constitutional amendment become law in its current form?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Add stronger safeguards against governors first

  Who holds it: Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), national coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko

  State police can fix the failures of central policing, but only if they are shielded from governors. General assurances are not enough. Funding should be protected through a first-line charge on federal allocations so governors cannot starve commands, and independent state police commissions should control appointments, discipline and removals. Without these protections, officers could be pressured into unlawful orders and forces could become armed wings of ruling parties.

  In their words: The Guardian Nigeria (remarks of Emmanuel Onwubiko) ↗

• Approve it, then give states more control

  Who holds it: Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa

  The amendment is a step in the right direction after years of demands across successive National Assemblies, and it should be approved. But it leaves too much power at the federal level and does not define in plain terms how state and federal police relate. Future changes should give states greater authority to manage their own security and spell out the functions of state police.

  In their words: Punch (remarks of Mudashiru Obasa) ↗

• Do not pursue it under this administration

  Who holds it: Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), national chairman Hakeem Baba-Ahmed

  Nigeria needs a major review and overhaul of its security institutions, but this administration lacks the trust and record to carry out a change this large. It has failed to manage the existing police structure, so its plan to create state police is suspicious. Pursuing the change at a time when the government's credibility and competence are at a low point is cause for deep concern.

  In their words: Vanguard (remarks of Hakeem Baba-Ahmed) ↗

• Enact it as passed

  Who holds it: Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele and the Senate majority; President Tinubu, who proposed the bill

  A single federal force run from Abuja cannot secure a country of Nigeria's size. State police would enforce state laws and respond faster with local knowledge, while federal police keep counter-terrorism, borders and other national duties. The bill bars use of state police for partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional or personal purposes and lets federal police intervene, with written presidential approval and judicial review, if a state force fails or abuses rights.

  In their words: Punch (statement from the office of Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele) ↗