Historic Shift Looms as Reps Overwhelmingly Back State Police Bill Amid Rising Insecurity

The House of Representatives has taken a major step toward reshaping Nigeria’s security architecture by passing a constitutional amendment bill that seeks to establish state police across the country.
The landmark proposal sailed through the lower chamber on Thursday with an overwhelming 289 lawmakers voting in support, just one opposing, and no abstentions out of the 290 votes cast.
The development comes after House leadership ordered all lawmakers on oversight duties to immediately return to Abuja to ensure the constitutional quorum required for the crucial vote.
The legislation, formally titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026,” was sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, Fatima Talba, Blessing Onuh, Tolani Shagaya, and several other lawmakers.
Speaking on the bill, Kalu, who also chairs the House Committee on Constitution Review, revealed that lawmakers deliberately chose to prioritize state policing above several other constitutional reform proposals due to the worsening security crisis facing the nation.
According to him, the persistent threats of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes have made the creation of decentralized policing structures an urgent national necessity.
Under Nigeria’s current constitutional arrangement, policing falls exclusively under the Federal Government through the Exclusive Legislative List. However, the newly approved amendment seeks to move policing powers to the Concurrent Legislative List, a move that would empower state governments to establish, finance, and manage their own police formations.
If eventually approved through the remaining constitutional processes, the amendment could mark one of the most significant security reforms in Nigeria’s democratic history, potentially ending decades of exclusive federal control over law enforcement and opening a new chapter in the fight against insecurity.