President Bola Tinubu has forwarded a Constitution Alteration Bill seeking the establishment of state police to the Senate, marking another major step towards changing Nigeria’s policing structure.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution to allow states across the federation to establish and operate their own police forces alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
The move comes after years of calls from governors, lawmakers, civil society groups and security experts for the decentralisation of policing powers to address Nigeria’s worsening security challenges, including terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and communal conflicts.
The development follows recent moves by the National Assembly to advance the state police proposal.
The House of Representatives had earlier passed the constitutional amendment bill after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of the legislation. 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,” seeks to amend constitutional provisions relating to policing.
