Nigeria's State Police Bill Faces Constitutional Approval Shortfall
Femi Gbajabiamila announced the National Policing Bill is nearly complete, though a required constitutional amendment failed to reach the necessary state approval threshold by October 16.
Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila announced that the National Policing Bill is 90 percent complete and will be transmitted to the National Assembly within one to two weeks. Describing the legislation as the most consequential bill of the current administration, Gbajabiamila stated the framework establishes rules for the recruitment, training, and oversight of state police services.
Despite the progress of the operational bill, the underlying constitutional amendment required to enable state police failed to meet its approval threshold by the October 16 deadline. Only five of Nigeria's 36 state Houses of Assembly—Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, and Zamfara—approved the Sixth Constitution Alteration Bill. This falls significantly short of the 24-state minimum required by the 1999 Constitution.
The Presidential Working Group, inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu in July, has been developing the operational roadmap since August 3, including a two-week public consultation period. While Gbajabiamila asserted there is a national consensus on the need for these amendments to combat banditry and terrorism, critics and former police chiefs have raised concerns that state-controlled security forces could be politically misused by governors.
