State Police Reform Advances as 12 Assemblies Back Constitutional Amendment
ABUJA — Nigeria’s push toward state policing has moved deeper into the constitutional process, with 12 state assemblies now backing the amendment required to permit state police while a separate National Policing Bill 2026 undergoes federal legal review.
The constitutional amendment has already passed both chambers of the National Assembly and was transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16, 2026.
It has not yet crossed the threshold required to alter the Constitution.
At least 24 of the 36 state assemblies must approve the proposal before it can proceed toward presidential assent.
Twelve states have approved so far
The latest verified count reviewed by IDNN puts the number of approving state assemblies at 12.
That leaves the proposal 12 approvals short of the constitutional threshold.
The number remains dynamic because more state assemblies are still considering the amendment.
Any publication of the count should therefore be preceded by a fresh check.
What the amendment would change
The proposed amendment would move Nigeria away from an exclusively federal police structure by creating a framework for both a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
Under the current proposal, state governors would have roles in appointments and general public-safety policy, while oversight and confirmation mechanisms are intended to limit political interference.
Those provisions remain proposed constitutional arrangements.
They are not yet operating law.
No state police service has been created under the amendment at this stage.
Separate policing bill under review
Alongside the constitutional process, the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has prepared a separate legislative package intended to govern how a dual policing system would operate if the constitutional change succeeds.
The package includes the National Policing Bill 2026 and 29 consequential amendment bills.
The drafts have been submitted to the Federal Ministry of Justice for legislative drafting review and validation.
The Ministry is expected to return the reviewed documents to the Working Group, after which they may be presented to the President for consideration and possible onward transmission to the National Assembly.
That means the National Policing Bill has not yet reached the National Assembly and is not law.
Two processes, one reform
The two tracks perform different functions.
The constitutional amendment deals with whether state police can legally exist within Nigeria’s constitutional structure.
The proposed National Policing Bill is intended to deal with how such a system would be organised, regulated and coordinated.
Both processes remain incomplete.
Support and concerns
Supporters of decentralised policing argue that state-controlled forces could respond more quickly to kidnapping, banditry, communal violence and other local security threats.
Critics and sceptics have raised concerns about possible political abuse by governors, uneven funding between states and disputes over command between federal and state forces.
Those questions become more consequential as the constitutional proposal moves closer to the required threshold.
The next accountability test
The immediate question is whether at least 24 state assemblies will approve the amendment.
Beyond that is a deeper institutional question:
Can Nigeria build a decentralised policing system with enough safeguards to improve local security without creating new avenues for political control or abuse?
For now, state police remain a proposal.
The reform has advanced, but it has not yet become constitutional or operational reality.