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State Police Bill Passes House of Representatives, Senate Refers ... The House of Representatives on Wednesday, 10 June 2026 passed a bill seeking to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to provide for the establishment of State Police, while the Senate, considering the same proposal, referred it to its Committee on Constitution Review for further consideration. In the House of Representatives, the bill was considered on the report of the Committee on Constitution Review, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu (APC: Abia). The bill seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List of the Constitution, a change that would empower state governments to establish, fund, and operate their own police forces alongside the Nigeria Police Force, which is currently the sole, centrally controlled police institution under the Federal Government. The House took its decision on the bill by a show of hands rather than through the electronic voting system. Rt. Hon Abass Tajudeen who presided over the session announced that the two-thirds majority required for the alteration of the Constitution had bee…

Nigeria: Senate Passes State Police Bill, Refers Proposed Law to Constitution Review Committee [Premium Times] The bill seeks to devolve policing powers to subnational governments to strengthen Nigeria's internal security architecture.

Nigeria: Senate Defends State Police Bill, Says 84 Senators Voted in Favour [Leadership] The Senate on Sunday defended the passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, insisting that 84 of the 109 senators voted in support of the bill during its clause-by-clause consideration, describing the outcome as evidence of broad bipartisan backing for the constitutional amendment.

State police becomes a reality as National Assembly approves ... After months of deliberations, the National Assembly has passed the bill amending Section 214 of the Nigerian Constitution to provide for State Police. The bill was supported by an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives, with only 4 Members voting against the bill. The bill provides for guidelines that must be met before any state can establish a police force. The bill was overwhelmingly endorsed by lawmakers during voting on the floor of the House, with 289 members voting in support and only four voting against. The vote was conducted by a show of hands after the House’s electronic voting system reportedly had technical faults. The approval marks a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to decentralise policing and strengthen internal security amid rising concerns over terrorism, banditry, mass kidnappings and other violent crimes across the country. Although the act has been passed, there are still some guidelines that must be met before states can establish the various states can innaugurate their respective police arms. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, …

Senate passes state police bill for second reading, stalls further ... The senate on Thursday passed for second reading a bill seeking to establish state police and transfer policing powers to subnational governments, but constitutional concerns raised by Adamu Aliero, senator representing Kebbi central, stalled efforts to fast track its consideration. The bill, sponsored by Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader, was subsequently referred to the senate ad hoc committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution for further legislative scrutiny. Leading debate on the bill, Bamidele said the proposal seeks to modernise Nigeria’s security architecture by creating federal and state police structures with clearly defined responsibilities. He said the bill would transfer policing from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list, establish state police service commissions, and strengthen cooperative federalism in security administration. Bamidele argued that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, and cyber-enabled crimes, had exposed the limitations of the current centralised policing structure. “Security is most effe…

Nigeria: State Police Bill Reflects National Consensus, Not Political Expediency - Senate [Vanguard] ABUJA -- The Senate has defended the passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, describing it as a product of national consensus rather than political cynicism.

House of Representatives Passes State Police Bill; Senate Advances It ... On Thursday, the House of Representatives took a major step toward amending the Nigerian Constitution by passing a bill to establish state police nationwide, reshaping the country’s security framework and responding to long-standing calls to decentralise policing. The House, in a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, had a majority vote in support of the bill titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to Provide for the Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026″. The representatives commenced the voting on the constitution review following the presentation of the report on the proposal for state policing by the Deputy Speaker of the House, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who urged his colleagues to support the bill to address the growing insecurity in the country. The voting exercise, which was conducted manually with members raising their hands to indicate their position, ended with 289 lawmakers voting in support of the bill…

Nigeria: Senate Passes State Police Bill, Refers Proposed Law to Constitution Review Committee [Premium Times] The bill seeks to devolve policing powers to subnational governments to strengthen Nigeria's internal security architecture.

State Police Bill scales through Second Reading at the Senate Headlines Published By Kazeem Ugbodaga Date 11th June, 2026 Share: Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Quick Read Nigeria had unprecedented security challenges ranging errorism and violent extremism to banditry and mass abductions; farmer-herder conflicts; cultism and gang violence; armed robbery; pipeline vandalism and economic sabotage; communal clashes; and emerging cyber-enabled crimes. A bill seeking to establish state police and transfer policing powers to subnational governments in order to strengthen internal security architecture across the federation on Thursday scaled through the second reading at the Senate. The bill, which enjoys broad support among all senators across political divides, was referred to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio for further consideration and scrutiny. Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele led the debate on the state police bill, highlighting the national significance of creating a state police among the dwindling power of the Nigeria Police to ensure internal stability. Nigeria h…

Senate passes state police bill, refers proposed law to Constitution Review Committee <img width="1280" height="852" src="https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.jpg?fit=1280%2C852&amp;ssl=1" class="webfeedsFeaturedVisual wp-post-image" alt="Senate Plenary [PHOTO CREDIT: @NgrSenate]" style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-bottom: 5px;max-width: 100%;" link_thumbnail="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.jpg?resize=524%2C349&amp;ssl=1 524w, https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.jpg?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.jpg?resize=150%2C100&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2023/07/354268035_654295030076485_7953497666616591823_n.j…

Nigeria moves closer to state police as Senate passes key amendment ... The Senate on Wednesday finally passed a constitutional amendment bill to establish State Police nationwide, marking Nigeria’s most significant shift in security architecture since the 1999 Constitution. The legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to Provide for the Establishment of State Police; and for Related Matters (Sixth Alteration)”, was approved at the Committee of the Whole under Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The Executive Bill was transmitted to the National Assembly on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu, who requested accelerated consideration. The Senate granted first, second and third readings during Wednesday’s plenary. Voting followed a presentation of the bill’s general principles by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, representing Ekiti Central, who urged colleagues to back the reform as a response to Nigeria’s worsening security crisis. When the electronic voting system failed, senators resorted to a manual count. Lawmakers stood and raised their hands, and a majority of the 109-member chamber voted in favour of the amendment. …

Nigeria: Senate to Pass State Police Bill Tuesday, Moves to Strengthen ... All things being equal, the Senate is set to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill seeking the creation of State Police tomorrow, Tuesday. The development followed the decision of the leadership of the upper chamber to reconvene lawmakers for an emergency plenary session after a quorum shortfall stalled the process before the recent recess, penultimate week. A principal officer of the Senate, disclosed this to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity in Abuja. Follow us onWhatsApp|LinkedInfor the latest headlines He explained that the proposed constitutional amendment could not be passed before senators proceeded on a three-week recess penultimate week because the chamber failed to muster the constitutionally required two-thirds majority needed for amendments to the nation's supreme law. According to the source, the Senate leadership has intensified consultations and appealed to lawmakers across party lines to ensure full attendance at Tuesday's emergency sitting. The source said, "We will surely reconvene on Tuesday to pass the bill on State Police. We did not form the quorum, which is the two-thirds maj…