President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has transmitted a constitutional amendment bill to the Senate seeking the establishment of State Police in Nigeria. The move marks the Tinubu administration’s most direct push yet to decentralize security and reform the country’s policing structure.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio disclosed that the upper chamber will begin consideration of the bill later today. According to him, lawmakers are expected to review the provisions that would allow states to set up and control their own police forces.
Akpabio further stated that state Houses of Assembly have pledged to consider the bill on the same day once it is transmitted to them. Their approval is critical, as constitutional amendments require ratification by at least 24 of the 36 state assemblies.
The bill represents a major shift in Nigeria’s security architecture. For years, calls for State Police have centered on the need for faster local response to insecurity, banditry, and kidnapping. The Tinubu administration says decentralizing policing will improve accountability and efficiency at the state level.
NASS TV reports that today’s Senate deliberation is the first step in a multi-stage legislative process. If both chambers of the National Assembly and the required number of state assemblies approve it, the bill will be forwarded to the President for assent, potentially ushering in a new era of State Police in Nigeria.
