NASS to conclude state police law before December – Senate Leader

The promise concerns the final legislative steps for creating state police in Nigeria. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said both chambers will review resolutions passed by state Houses of Assembly on the proposed constitutional amendment. They aim to complete the process on or before December 2026.

The process includes considering reports from the state assemblies, passing a final National Assembly resolution, and transmitting that resolution to President Bola Tinubu for assent. The proposal already passed both chambers in September and was sent to state assemblies.

About 30 state assemblies have reportedly approved it, exceeding the required threshold. The National Assembly must still examine those approvals and complete its own stages. If the process succeeds, the constitutional framework would support state police services operating alongside the federal police.

A state police system would give individual states their own police services. These services would operate alongside Nigeria’s existing federal police, which would continue under the Inspector-General of Police. The proposal aims to make policing more responsive to local terrain, languages, and community conditions.

Each state police service would have a commissioner appointed by the state governor. The appointment would require confirmation by the state House of Assembly. Governors would also direct their state police on matters connected with insecurity. This creates both executive control and legislative confirmation.

The proposal describes state police as community-anchored policing, not state armies. It includes constitutional safeguards, operational standards, oversight mechanisms, and human rights protections. The federal police would remain in place, while state services would add a local policing structure under the proposed constitutional framework.

Nigeria’s Constitution requires approval from at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly before the National Assembly can move to the amendment’s final stages. Two-thirds of 36 equals 24 states. This threshold is designed to require broad state-level support.

The state police proposal has reportedly received approval from about 30 state assemblies. That figure is higher than the required 24, so the proposal has passed the state-level threshold described in the article. The approvals now allow the National Assembly to review the resolutions.

The threshold does not itself establish state police. The Senate and House of Representatives must still consider the state assemblies’ resolutions, pass the final resolution, and transmit it for presidential assent. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said those stages should be completed on or before December 2026.

After state assemblies approve the proposal, the National Assembly must examine their resolutions. The Senate and House of Representatives will consider the reports and determine the final legislative resolution on the constitutional amendment. This review ensures the state-level decisions are incorporated into the national process.

The two chambers must then pass the final resolution. Once passed, it will be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent. The proposal originally passed both chambers in September before being sent to state Houses of Assembly for consideration.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the National Assembly intends to complete these stages on or before December 2026. Presidential assent would be a further required step under the timetable he described. The article presents state police as constitutionally established only after the amendment process is completed.

The proposed framework gives state governors a central role in managing state police. Each governor would appoint the commissioner who heads the state police service. Governors would also be empowered to direct their state police on matters relating to insecurity.

The appointment would not be unilateral. The governor’s chosen commissioner would need confirmation from the state House of Assembly. This gives the legislature a formal check over the executive’s choice of police leadership. The state commissioner would lead the state service.

The federal police would retain its own national structure, headed by the Inspector-General of Police. State police commissioners would therefore lead separate state services rather than the federal force. The article says the proposed system would include oversight mechanisms, operational standards, constitutional safeguards, and human rights protections.

The proposed framework separates formal state police from existing local security outfits. Groups such as Amotekun in the South-West, Ebube Agu in the South-East, and Hisbah in parts of northern Nigeria could not simply be converted into state police services.

The proposal also says these outfits could not exercise police powers under the new system. In addition, it prohibits them from bearing firearms. This means the proposed state police structure would be created through the constitutional amendment, rather than by granting existing outfits new police status.

State police commissioners would lead the new services, subject to the governor’s appointment and the state assembly’s confirmation. The article does not describe any broader changes to the local outfits beyond these restrictions. It presents the framework as a regulated system with constitutional safeguards and oversight.

The article does not state why policing has traditionally been organised mainly at the federal level. Established constitutional knowledge explains that Nigeria’s current formal police structure is nationally organised, with the Nigeria Police Force headed by the Inspector-General of Police. State police would change that arrangement by creating constitutionally recognised services for individual states.

Under the proposal, federal and state police would operate alongside each other. The federal police would retain its national leadership, while each state service would have a commissioner appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state assembly. Governors could direct state police on insecurity matters.

This fits a federal system by sharing policing responsibilities between national and state institutions. The article says the proposed model is not about creating state armies. It would instead establish community-anchored policing with safeguards, standards, oversight, and human rights protections, subject to constitutional amendment.