Nigeria’s proposed constitutional amendment to permit state police has moved to the country’s 36 state Houses of Assembly, opening the decisive state-ratification stage of a reform that would change the nation’s exclusively federal policing structure. Clerk to the National Assembly Kamoru Ogunlana transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 on Wednesday, 16 September.
The transmission does not create state police immediately. Section 9 of the Constitution requires approval by resolutions of at least two-thirds of the state legislatures—24 of the 36—before the alteration process can advance. Until the required approvals, further legislative steps and presidential assent are completed, the existing constitutional framework remains in force.
What has actually been transmitted
Premium Times reports that the state-police proposal is the only item in the current alteration cycle that has completed approval in both chambers and been sent to the states. Other proposals discussed during the wider constitution review—including special seats for women, traditional-ruler recognition and further local-government changes—remain at different legislative stages and should not be described as part of this state vote unless the National Assembly formally transmits them.
The official Senate order paper for 23 June identified the measure as SB.1055 and described it as a bill to alter the 1999 Constitution to provide for the establishment of state police. The Senate’s passage and the later concurrence process moved it beyond a general policy promise, but the state votes are a separate constitutional requirement rather than a ceremonial endorsement.
The National Assembly asked state legislatures to consider the bill and communicate their resolutions within 30 days of receipt. Ogunlana’s statement expressly says the Constitution sets no deadline for those responses. The 30 days is an administrative timetable intended to coordinate the exercise; it is not a legal cutoff that automatically counts a late assembly as approving or rejecting the proposal.
The 30-day request is not a legal deadline
Each state assembly is expected to deliberate under its own procedures and return a formal resolution. The threshold is national: the amendment needs at least 24 affirmative state resolutions. Readers should therefore treat individual governors’ public support, party statements or committee recommendations as political signals—not substitutes for recorded votes by the Houses of Assembly.
Supporters argue that policing closer to communities could improve intelligence, rural coverage and response times while giving state governments clearer responsibility for local security. Earlier legislative descriptions envisage state forces operating alongside the Nigeria Police Force, with national standards and a continuing federal role. The transmitted bill’s final operative text and any implementation laws will determine the precise division of powers.
The unresolved safeguards debate
Critics have warned that governors could misuse state forces against opponents, especially where legislatures and oversight institutions are weak. Funding, recruitment, command authority, cross-border investigations, complaints systems and protections against political interference remain central questions. Passage would authorise a new constitutional structure; it would not by itself answer every operational question.
The next verifiable milestones are the resolutions issued by the 36 state assemblies, the running total toward the required 24 approvals, and the National Assembly’s action after receiving them. Until those steps and assent are complete, the accurate description is that state police is a proposed constitutional reform at the state-ratification stage—not an active nationwide policing system.
