The Senate on Wednesday passed a landmark constitutional amendment bill seeking the establishment of State Police Services across Nigeria, marking a significant step toward decentralising the country’s policing system and strengthening internal security.
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 Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 (SB. 1055),” was approved following consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
The bill provides the legal framework for a dual policing structure that would allow states to establish and operate their own police services alongside a federal police system.
Under the proposed arrangement, the current Nigeria Police Force structure would be replaced by a Federal Police Service operating concurrently with State Police Services across the federation.
The Senate’s approval followed extensive deliberations on the general principles of the bill before it successfully scaled all required legislative stages.
The proposed amendment was transmitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as part of ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s security architecture and address growing security challenges nationwide.
In a letter dated June 15 and read during plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu stated that the amendment seeks to provide a constitutional foundation for state policing and improve security management at the sub-national level.
According to the proposal, the new policing framework is designed to strengthen community-based security operations, enhance intelligence gathering, and enable faster and more effective responses to local security threats.
The passage of the bill by the Senate is being viewed as a major milestone in Nigeria’s constitutional review process and a significant breakthrough in long-standing debates over policing reforms.
However, the proposed constitutional amendment must still undergo further legislative and constitutional procedures before it can become law and take effect.
The development comes amid increasing calls from state governments, security experts, and stakeholders for the decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing system as a strategy to tackle rising insecurity and improve law enforcement efficiency across the country.
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