By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish state police, marking a major step towards decentralising Nigeria’s policing system amid growing concerns over insecurity across the country.
The bill was approved during plenary presided over by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, following consideration and voting by lawmakers after a full day of debate on the proposal.
Announcing the outcome, Abbas said 288 members voted in favour of the bill, while four lawmakers voted against it.
The Speaker explained that members voted by a show of hands because the House’s electronic voting system was not functional.
The proposed legislation seeks to create a constitutional framework for state police as an additional layer of law enforcement, while providing safeguards, oversight mechanisms and clearly defined responsibilities between federal and state policing authorities.
The House had earlier released the final print of the Constitution Alteration Bills, including the proposal on state police, as part of the ongoing constitutional review process.
According to a statement issued by the House spokesman, Akintunde Rotimi, the bills were the product of months of legislative work by the House Committee on Constitution Review.
Rotimi said the committee considered proposals from lawmakers, government agencies, professional bodies, civil society groups, traditional institutions and citizens before producing the final draft.
He added that the review process featured extensive consultations across the country through zonal and national public hearings, expert sessions, town hall meetings and stakeholder engagements in the six geopolitical zones.
“The bills represent the culmination of several months of rigorous legislative work undertaken by the House Committee on Constitution Review,” he said.
The House vote came against the backdrop of escalating security challenges, including banditry, terrorism, kidnappings, armed robbery and communal violence in several parts of the country.
*Senate advances proposal to second reading
Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday also advanced the state police proposal as the constitutional amendment bill passed second reading.
Leading debate on the bill, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said Nigeria’s worsening security situation had made decentralised policing imperative.
According to him, the proposed amendment seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby enabling states to establish and operate their own police formations.
Bamidele argued that the current centralised policing structure had struggled to address increasingly localised security threats effectively.
“The initiative has become unavoidable given Nigeria’s escalating security challenges, including terrorism, banditry, mass abductions, armed robbery, farmer-herder clashes, cult-related violence and pipeline vandalism,” he said.
He explained that the proposal provides for a dual policing structure comprising federal and state police formations with clearly defined jurisdictions and oversight mechanisms.
Addressing concerns that governors could abuse state-controlled police formations, the Senate Leader said the bill contains safeguards to prevent misuse.
“These provisions are designed to ensure balance between operational autonomy and constitutional oversight,” Bamidele stated.
He added that officers familiar with local terrain, language, and cultural dynamics would be better equipped to prevent and combat crime, while state police would strengthen intelligence gathering and improve rapid-response capabilities.
Also supporting the bill, Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno said state police would provide a legal framework for regulating the numerous vigilante groups operating across the country and improve accountability within the security architecture.
Following debate, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution for further legislative action.
The proposal is expected to form part of constitutional amendment bills to be considered and voted on by the Senate when plenary resumes on July 7.
For the amendment to take effect, it must secure approval by the Senate and receive the endorsement of at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly.
The development signals growing legislative consensus within the National Assembly on the need to reform Nigeria’s security architecture by creating state police, as part of broader efforts to tackle persistent insecurity nationwide.
