State Police Bill: 36 Assemblies Get 30 Days to Decide

• 24-state threshold required as constitutional amendment enters crucial phase

By Princely Onyenwe | News Desk

ABUJA — Nigeria’s proposed State Police system has entered a decisive stage after the National Assembly transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to the Houses of Assembly of all 36 states for consideration and concurrence.

The transmission, effected on Wednesday, September 16, by Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, marks the beginning of the state-level stage of the constitutional amendment process. The National Assembly expects the State Houses of Assembly to communicate their respective resolutions within 30 days of receiving the bill, although Ogunlana clarified that the period is an administrative timeframe and not a constitutional deadline.

The development does not mean that all 36 State Assemblies must approve the proposal before it can proceed. Under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, a constitutional alteration requires approval by resolution of not less than two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly. With 36 states in the federation, the required threshold is therefore 24 State Assemblies.

The State Police proposal has already cleared the National Assembly stage. The Senate passed the bill on June 24, 2026, while the House of Representatives subsequently passed the measure on July 23 after consideration of the constitutional amendment proposal. The House vote involved 311 members participating in the process, according to reporting on the passage.

The next stage, therefore, rests substantially with the state legislatures. Each House of Assembly is expected to consider the constitutional amendment according to its own legislative procedures and communicate its resolution to the National Assembly. This means the immediate issue is not the enactment of State Police laws by all 36 states, but whether at least 24 state legislatures will concur with the constitutional alteration.

If the required two-thirds threshold is secured, the National Assembly will proceed with the next constitutional steps before the proposal can be presented for presidential assent. Consequently, the transmission to the states should be viewed as a major constitutional hurdle rather than the final enactment of State Police.

The proposed reform would alter Nigeria’s existing policing architecture by providing for State Police Services alongside the Federal Police structure. Among the provisions already reported in the bill is a framework under which a State Commissioner of Police would be appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the National Police Council, subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly.

The proposal also contemplates State Police Service Commissions with responsibilities relating to recruitment, promotion, discipline and other aspects of the administration of state police personnel, while retaining constitutional and national safeguards over the policing structure.

The state-level consideration could therefore become the most consequential phase of the current State Police constitutional reform, particularly because the proposal requires concurrence from 24 separate legislatures before the amendment can advance beyond the state-approval stage.

While the National Assembly has asked the states to respond within 30 days for administrative purposes, the Clerk has expressly stated that the Constitution does not impose a fixed deadline on the State Houses of Assembly. Their independence in considering the proposal remains constitutionally recognised.

The process is also taking place against the background of the National Assembly’s scheduled resumption of plenary on September 29, 2026, after its earlier September 15 resumption date was postponed to allow ongoing rehabilitation work in the legislative chambers.

With the bill now before all 36 State Houses of Assembly, attention will shift from Abuja to the state legislatures as lawmakers begin determining whether the proposed restructuring of Nigeria’s policing system will secure the 24-state constitutional threshold required for the reform to advance.

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