The proposed State Police Bill has received approval from 26 state Houses of Assembly, bringing it closer to final consideration by the National Assembly. Ondo and Borno states endorsed the constitutional amendment on Monday, while the Lagos State House of Assembly was expected to consider the proposal on Tuesday.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who chairs the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, had earlier confirmed that 24 state assemblies had approved the bill. The National Assembly is expected to consider the responses from state legislatures when plenary resumes between Tuesday and Thursday.
The Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, seeks to establish a two-tier policing system comprising a Federal Police Service and 36 State Police Services. At least 24 state assemblies, representing two-thirds of the 36 states, must approve the constitutional amendment for it to proceed.
Kalu said the proposed reform could bring policing closer to communities, improve local intelligence gathering and enable faster responses to security threats. He commended the approving state assemblies and President Bola Tinubu for supporting the reform, while urging other states to endorse the remaining constitutional amendment bills.
States yet to approve the bill include Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Kogi and Bauchi, alongside other states listed as outstanding in the report. All six South-South states were reported to have approved the proposal, while the Lagos Assembly was expected to deliberate on it.
In Ondo, lawmakers approved the proposal after reviewing it clause by clause in the Committee of the Whole House. Speaker Olamide Oladiji said the decision reflected the need to explore new approaches to tackling insecurity. The assembly recommended an amendment to Section 317A(5) before endorsing the bill.
The Borno State House of Assembly also approved the proposed constitutional amendment during plenary in Maiduguri, with Deputy Speaker Abdullahi Musa Askira directing the Clerk to prepare the signed resolutions for transmission to the National Assembly. Once the required approvals are secured, the National Assembly will finalise the amendment and send it to President Tinubu for assent.
