The Senate has assured Nigerians that legislation to establish 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 as the Ondo State House of Assembly, on Monday, passed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to establish the State Police Services in Nigeria.
The lawmakers passed the bill during the plenary session after it scaled second and third readings, with all members present supporting its passage.
Earlier, 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 had passed the bill, making the two-thirds constitutionally required for the passage by the National Assembly.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the National Assembly was determined to conclude the process before the Christmas break.
Adaramodu said the proposed legislation was a priority in the ongoing constitution review process and would be considered expeditiously once the necessary proposals were received from the executive.
“On the constitution review matter, we all know that the one on the front burner now is the state police bill.
“Already, we have promised Nigerians that before the end of this 10th National Assembly, a new police law will be enacted for Nigerians. And then, before we even leave for Christmas, it would have been done,” he said.
His assurance comes as the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill submitted the draft National Policing Bill, 2026, and 29 consequential amendment bills to the Ministry of Justice for legislative drafting review and validation.
The working group, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the ministry was expected to return the validated drafts by October 30 before the group would give them final consideration and present them to President Bola Tinubu for approval and subsequent transmission to the National Assembly.
Gbajabiamila had earlier said the proposed bill was 90 per cent ready and would be transmitted to the National Assembly on October 29.
However, Adaramodu declined to comment on the executive’s proposed timeline, saying the Senate would wait until it formally received the bills.
“Well, we cannot pass comment on what the executive said until we receive correspondence from them,” he said.
The Senate spokesman also dismissed concerns over delays in securing state-level approval for the constitutional amendment, explaining that the 30 days was intended for the state legislatures to submit their inputs.
“All those things (state approvals) will be brought to us, and we will put them under consideration because we are still going to hold a conference to address it.
“Again, you need to understand that the 30-day deadline is not for us. It is for the states to send in their inputs. And they have been doing that,” he said.
Adaramodu expressed confidence that the process would be concluded before the end of the year, insisting that the proposed law was necessary to strengthen the country’s response to insecurity.
“There’s nothing to worry about. The policing bill will be done expeditiously as we promised and it will become law before the end of this year, by the grace of God. We are determined,” he said.
He added that lawmakers would ensure that relevant stakeholders had the opportunity to contribute to the proposed framework, given its implications for communities across the country.
“This is a popular bill. We know that it’s what Nigerians want and need. So, definitely we are not going to waste a minute on it.
“It’s only that we have to make sure that all stakeholders, critical ones, and even the ones that are not seriously critical, have input. This is because it concerns every community in Nigeria,” he said.
According to him, state police would improve the enforcement of security laws and strengthen efforts to tackle killings, abductions, banditry and terrorism.
“We want to put an end to all these incessant killings, abductions, and activities of these marauders, bandits and terrorists in Nigeria. So, we have enacted a lot of laws in the National Assembly to deter them. The only thing we need now is the enforcement.
“But if the state police are on ground, enforcement will be better done and more effective than a centralised police force in Nigeria. So, that’s where all Nigerians are now. But as I said, it will be done expeditiously,” he added.
Also speaking, the senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, said the approval by 24 state assemblies meant the constitutional amendment had met the required threshold and would return to the National Assembly for verification.
“Well, now that 24 state assemblies have concurred to the state police bill, it will come back to us.
“What this means is that we have met the constitutional threshold. So, if it comes back to the Senate, we will verify all the things sent,” Umeh said.
He said the National Assembly supported decentralised policing because of Nigeria’s size and the need to bring security operations closer to communities.
“We in the National Assembly support state police for the simple reason that Nigeria is a very large country, so much that policing it will require some level of decentralisation.
“We cannot continue to have one central police force to provide security to Kebbi, Calabar, Sabon Gari, Ikot Abasi and all the far ends of this country. No, we must decentralise it to have two police commands, especially state police, to get nearer to the grassroots,” he said.
Umeh argued that state-based policing would improve intelligence gathering and enable security agencies to respond more quickly to threats.
“That way, syndication of intelligence would be easy. This is because where you have a state commander for the state and the person is an indigene of the state, it is one good thing to achieve. It means people who are policing the various states are indigenes of those states,” he said.
He contrasted the proposed arrangement with the existing centralised system, arguing that officers posted to states where they had limited local knowledge could face challenges understanding security threats in their areas of deployment.
He said state police commanders would have greater familiarity with local conditions and face stronger pressure to address security challenges in their jurisdictions.
“Every security issue is local. Through the intelligence of people in that state, we will be able to respond on time. Every criminal hides in the community, and there is a tendency they would be known to the locals,” Umeh added.
The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to alter Section 214 of the Constitution to replace the existing Nigeria Police Force with a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
The Senate passed the Sixth Alteration Bill on June 24, followed by the House of Representatives. The National Assembly subsequently transmitted it to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration.
Speaking in plenary in Ondo before the passage of the bill, the majority leader of the Assembly, Mr Olatunji Oshati, moved the motion for the passage and was seconded by Allen Oluwatoyin, who represents Ese Odo state constituency.
Oshati said the lawmakers had carefully considered the implications of the proposed amendment for the citizenry, stating that the establishment of state police would address the numerous security challenges confronting the country.
In his remarks, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, described the proposed establishment of the state police as long overdue, noting that the “bill would enable security agencies to respond swiftly to crime and other security concerns.”
He said, “State policing would help reduce crime through improved intelligence gathering and proactive security measures.”
He then directed the Clerk of the House, Mr Benjamin Jaiyeola, to transmit the document to the National Assembly, along with the state legislature’s observations.
The Punch
