For more than 15 years, the idea of state police in Nigeria has stalled in the corridors of power. It has now cleared its biggest hurdle.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele says at least 30 State Houses of Assembly have approved the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill, 2026. That meets the constitutional threshold for altering the 1999 Constitution.
“State police have moved from rhetoric to reality,” he said.
Seven weeks to finish the job
The National Assembly has until December 2026 to complete the remaining steps, Bamidele said on Thursday. He was speaking to participants of Senior Executive Course 48 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State.
Lawmakers will collate the reports from the state legislatures, consider them and pass a resolution by simple majority in both chambers. The bill then goes to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
“We intend to conclude all these legislative stages on or before December 2026,” said Bamidele, who is also Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
Policing that knows the terrain
Bamidele argued that states could build policing arrangements suited to their own communities. Officers would understand the local terrain, speak the local languages and respond to local security concerns.
He rejected fears that the reform would create state armies or weaken the Federal Government. He said it would strengthen the federation, with constitutional safeguards, operational standards, oversight mechanisms and human rights protections built in.
Protecting lives, private property and public assets, he added, remains a priority for the 10th National Assembly.
“Good laws alone do not guarantee good governance”
Bamidele used the lecture to question how lawmakers should be judged. In his view, the number of laws passed matters less than the difference they make in citizens’ lives.
He listed laws passed by the 10th National Assembly, including the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024, the four Tax Reform Acts of 2025 and the Electoral Act, 2026.
Such laws, he said, only work with effective implementation, adequate funding, proper administration and regular monitoring. He also said lawmaking should be proactive, anticipating problems and closing institutional gaps before they become harder to fix.
A call for closer ties
He urged stronger collaboration between NIPSS and the National Assembly, saying the institute’s multidisciplinary approach could support evidence-based policy and better legislative foresight.
The lecture was attended by Senators Diket Plang and Pam Dachungyang, NIPSS Director-General Professor Ayo Omotayo and Adekunle Alonge, a former president of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.
Notes: I dropped John Akubo’s byline since this is a rewrite, so restore it if it is still his piece. The “seven weeks” is my calculation from today’s date, so adjust it if you publish later.
