The Senate has assured Nigerians that legislation to establish state police will be enacted before the end of 2026, following the approval of the proposed constitutional amendment by the required 24 state Houses of Assembly.
The assurance follows the Ondo State House of Assembly’s passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, on Monday, bringing the number of states that have approved the measure to the constitutionally required threshold.
The bill was passed during plenary after scaling second and third readings, with all lawmakers present supporting its passage.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, told The PUNCH that the National Assembly was determined to complete the legislative process before its Christmas break.
“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.
Adaramodu described state police legislation as a priority in the ongoing constitutional review, adding that the National Assembly would expedite consideration of the proposals once they were formally transmitted by the executive.
His comments come as the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill submitted the draft National Policing Bill, 2026, alongside 29 consequential amendment bills, to the Ministry of Justice for legislative drafting review and validation.
The working group, chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, expects the ministry to return the validated drafts by October 30 before they are given final consideration and presented to President Bola Tinubu for approval and subsequent transmission to the National Assembly.
Gbajabiamila had earlier indicated that 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 for official communication.
“Well, we cannot pass comment on what the executive said until we receive correspondence from them,” he said.
The Senate spokesman also dismissed concerns about delays in obtaining state-level approval, explaining that the 30-day period was intended for 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.
Expressing confidence that the legislation would be completed before the end of the year, Adaramodu said the proposed law was necessary to strengthen Nigeria’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 the National Assembly would ensure that relevant stakeholders were given the opportunity to contribute to the proposed framework because of its implications for communities nationwide.
“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.
Adaramodu argued that decentralising the police would improve law enforcement 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, Senator Victor Umeh, who represents Anambra Central, said the approval by 24 state assemblies meant the proposed 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 local 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 maintained that state police would improve intelligence gathering and enable security agencies to respond more quickly to threats by placing officers closer to the communities they serve.
“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 argued that officers familiar with local conditions would be better positioned to identify security threats and address criminal activities than personnel deployed to unfamiliar areas.
“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, after which the House of Representatives also approved it. The National Assembly subsequently transmitted the bill to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration.
At the Ondo Assembly, Majority Leader Olatunji Oshati moved the motion for the bill’s passage, which was seconded by Allen Oluwatoyin, who represents Ese Odo constituency.
Oshati said lawmakers had carefully considered the implications of the proposed amendment, adding that state police would help address the country’s numerous security challenges.
The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Olamide Oladiji, described the proposed establishment of state police as long overdue, arguing that it would improve responses to crime and other security concerns.
The bill would enable security agencies to respond more swiftly to criminal activities, he said.
“State policing would help reduce crime through improved intelligence gathering and proactive security measures,” Oladiji stated.
He subsequently directed the Clerk of the House, Benjamin Jaiyeola, to transmit the document, alongside the assembly’s observations, to the National Assembly.
