Nigeria passes constitutional amendment to create State Police

The Nigerian House of Representatives voted 289‑to‑1 to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow each of the country’s 36 states to establish their own police forces. The bill, titled the Sixth Alteration Bill 2026, seeks to create a dual policing structure by amending Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution, moving policing powers from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.

The Senate has taken the proposal through a second reading and referred it to an ad‑hoc committee on constitutional review. Proponents argue that locally recruited officers will improve intelligence gathering and response times to threats such as banditry, kidnapping, farmer‑herder clashes and terrorism. The amendment includes safeguards such as State Police Service Commissions, federal oversight through the Federal Police Service Commission, and limits on federal intervention except in cases of a complete breakdown of law and order, a governor’s request, or operational failure of a state force.

If enacted, the federal government would continue to fund state police via grants, while governors would appoint state commissioners of police subject to confirmation by state legislatures and oversight by the National Police Council. Final approval requires Senate passage, ratification by at least two‑thirds of state assemblies, and presidential assent.