Twenty-four state Houses of Assembly have approved the proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police in Nigeria, reaching the two-thirds threshold required to advance the reform, according to the latest update on the legislative process.

The approvals represent a significant step towards restructuring Nigeria’s policing system to allow state governments to establish their own police services alongside the existing federal police structure.

Under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, a constitutional amendment requires the support of at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state legislatures. The proposed state police amendment has already been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives and was transmitted to the state assemblies for consideration.

The latest list identifies Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara as the 24 states that have approved the proposal.

Kano is scheduled to consider the amendment during plenary, while Bauchi and Katsina are at the committee review stage.

Abia, Borno, Ebonyi, Kogi, Ondo and Sokoto have received the proposal, although their approval status remains outstanding in the update. Jigawa, Lagos and Niger have no public update on their positions.

The constitutional amendment process is advancing alongside work on the proposed National Policing Bill, 2026, which is expected to provide the legal and operational framework for the new policing arrangement.

The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, chaired by President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted the draft bill and 29 consequential amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice for legislative drafting review and validation on October 19.

The ministry is expected to return the reviewed documents to the working group by October 30 for final consideration before presentation to the President.

The proposed legislation is designed to establish a dual policing structure comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services. It is also expected to address national minimum standards, certification requirements, operational responsibilities, funding, oversight and accountability.

The constitutional amendment and the proposed national legislation are separate but related parts of the reform process. Reaching the required number of state approvals would advance the constitutional alteration, while the accompanying legal framework would establish the rules governing how state police services operate.

What states must do before launching police services

Even after the constitutional framework is completed, individual states will need to enact their own laws establishing their respective police services.

The proposed national framework also provides for a certification process to determine whether a state meets the minimum requirements for operating its own police service. This means constitutional approval alone would not automatically authorise every state to begin recruiting officers or deploying a separate police force.

The framework is expected to provide for federal coordination, inspections and accountability mechanisms, including arrangements for intervention where necessary.

The reform is intended to bring policing closer to local communities and improve responses to security threats, including kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and communal violence. However, concerns about political interference, human rights protections, funding and the potential misuse of state police by governors remain central to the debate.

With the reported 24 approvals, the constitutional amendment has reached the numerical threshold required under Section 9(2). The next steps are to formally verify and consolidate the state resolutions and complete the remaining constitutional and legislative procedures before state police services can become operational.