Nigeria’s proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police has crossed a major legislative hurdle after 28 State Houses of Assembly approved the measure, exceeding the constitutional threshold required for the alteration.
The development was announced by the National Assembly on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and reported by Reuters.
Under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, a constitutional alteration requires the support of at least two-thirds of all State Houses of Assembly, representing 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
The 28 approvals therefore exceed the required number and move the proposal closer to the next stage of the constitutional amendment process.
Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the legislature had verified the authenticity of the approvals and the supporting legislative records.
The proposed reform is intended to decentralise policing by allowing states to establish and control their own police forces, rather than relying exclusively on the Nigeria Police Force under the Federal Government.
Nigeria’s current policing arrangement is centrally structured, with the Nigeria Police Force operating as the principal national law enforcement institution. Advocates of state policing have argued that a decentralised system could improve security responses by bringing policing closer to local communities and allowing state authorities to address threats peculiar to their territories.
Supporters believe state police could strengthen intelligence gathering, improve response times and provide a more locally informed approach to tackling kidnapping, banditry, communal violence and other security challenges.
However, the proposal has also generated concerns about possible political interference, abuse of power, inadequate funding, uneven professional standards and the risk of using state-controlled security institutions against political opponents.
These concerns raise important questions about the safeguards that must accompany any decentralised policing arrangement.
Such safeguards would include clear operational rules, independent oversight, transparent recruitment, professional training, accountability mechanisms and effective protection of citizens’ fundamental rights.
The approval by 28 states does not, by itself, mean that state police have commenced operations. The constitutional amendment process and the legislative steps required to give effect to the reform must still be completed.
The development represents a major moment in Nigeria’s longstanding debate over the structure of its security institutions and the extent to which policing powers should be devolved to the states.
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