The proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police in Nigeria has surpassed the mandatory constitutional threshold after 30 state Houses of Assembly voted to endorse the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026.
Under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), any constitutional alteration requires ratification by at least two-thirds of the federation’s 36 state legislatures – representing 24 states. Following the National Assembly’s formal transmission of the bill in mid-September, the threshold was officially crossed and widened after recent affirmative votes from state assemblies including Lagos, Niger, Kogi, and Ebonyi. The outcome clears the primary constitutional hurdle required to dismantle Nigeria’s centralized unitary policing structure in favour of a dual federal-state architecture.
With legislative ratification confirmed across the states, attention has shifted towards financial models and operational mechanics. Addressing the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, called on the organised private sector to help formulate a sustainable funding framework. Gbajabiamila explained that effective decentralisation hinges on individual state capacity to sustain recurrent wage bills, specialized tactical training, and modern equipment procurement.
To safeguard institutional integrity, the Chief of Staff stressed that any private sector participation must be channelled through audited, transparent trust funds to prevent commercial interests from capturing or compromising local law enforcement commands. He added that states facing acute fiscal constraints will be granted a transitional window to continue relying on the federal police structure.
The constitutional amendment establishes the legal foundation for sub-national policing, but operational execution rests on accompanying statutory laws. The Presidential Working Group has submitted the draft National Policing Bill alongside 29 consequential amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice for final review before transmittal to the National Assembly, where Senate leadership is working to conclude passage before the end of the legislative year.
