Senate Passes State Police Bill, Splitting Nigeria's Policing Into Federal and State Commands

KEY PROVISIONS AT A GLANCE

• State governors may appoint Commissioners of Police, subject to state House of Assembly confirmation and national minimum standards.
• State police commissioners are explicitly barred from arresting or deploying force against persons, parties, or groups solely for criticising the government.
• Federal Police may intervene in a state's internal security affairs only upon a governor's request or where state police are unable or unwilling to act, and only with presidential written authorisation and 48-hour notice to the National Assembly.

The Senate on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, passed a bill to amend the 1999 Constitution, paving the way for the establishment of state police services across Nigeria's 36 states. The legislation, which cleared third reading after a clause-by-clause consideration with more than two-thirds of senators voting in favour, replaces the existing single-force Nigeria Police Force framework with a dual structure comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.

The bill arrived in the upper chamber a day after President Bola Tinubu formally transmitted it on Tuesday, describing it as a critical component of ongoing efforts to reorganise Nigeria's policing system and improve security at the community level. Its passage in less than 24 hours reflects the urgency the executive has attached to the reform.

A State Police Service shall be headed by a Commissioner of Police of the State appointed by the Governor of the State on the recommendation of the National Police Council, subject to confirmation by the House of Assembly of the State and to such qualifications and national minimum standards as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly."

— Clause 17, proposed constitutional amendment

To address longstanding fears that state police could be weaponised against political opponents, lawmakers inserted an explicit prohibition in Section 17(7), barring state commissioners from arresting, detaining, investigating, or deploying force against "any person, political party or group merely for criticising the government except in accordance with the law." The provision targets a key concern raised by civil society groups, journalists, and opposition politicians throughout years of debate on the subject.

Governors are empowered under Section 17(6) to issue written directives of a general policy nature to their Commissioners of Police on matters relating to public safety and order, but the constitution, as amended, would explicitly circumscribe those powers, preventing directives from crossing into partisan enforcement.

A DEBATE DECADES IN THE MAKING

Nigeria has operated a centralised policing system since independence, with the Nigeria Police Force under exclusive federal control. With a population of over 220 million spread across 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory, critics have long argued that the NPF is structurally incapable of responding to localised threats with sufficient speed or community intelligence.

Calls for state police intensified following the emergence of armed banditry across the Northwest, the persistence of Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency in the Northeast, farmer-herder conflicts in the Middle Belt, and rising kidnapping incidents in the Southwest, including the abduction of schoolchildren in Ogun and Oyo States in recent years.

Security analysts have argued that a federal force headquartered in Abuja cannot adequately patrol forests, borderlands, and rural communities spread across a country larger than France and Germany combined.

The proponents of decentralised policing have argued that state governments, being closer to communities, are better positioned to gather intelligence, prevent crime, and respond swiftly to security threats that often overwhelm federal security agencies.

The newly passed legislation attempts to balance that argument with safeguards designed to prevent abuse of power.

Under the amendment, State Police Services would operate within their respective jurisdictions but remain subject to national policing standards developed by the National Police Council. Recruitment, training, operational procedures, use-of-force policies, and disciplinary frameworks must conform to federal benchmarks intended to ensure uniform professionalism across the country.

The bill also creates a carefully defined relationship between state and federal policing authorities.

According to the proposed constitutional framework, the Federal Police Service may not intervene in the internal security affairs of a state except under limited circumstances. Such intervention would require either a formal request from the governor or evidence that the State Police Service is unable or unwilling to address a serious threat to public order.

Even in those situations, federal intervention would require written authorisation from the President, with notice to be transmitted to the governor of the state, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, the National Police Council and the National Assembly within 48 hours.

On the limits of federal reach, Section 214 of the proposed amendment states that the Federal Police Service may temporarily intervene in the internal security affairs of a State only where there is an actual or imminent breakdown of public order or public safety which the State Police Service is unable or unwilling to contain, or where the Governor of the State requests federal intervention.

Any such intervention shall not continue beyond the period prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly unless approved by a resolution of the Senate.

The Senate's approval marks one of the most consequential constitutional reforms since Nigeria's return to democratic rule in 1999.

For decades, advocates of restructuring have pointed to policing as one of the strongest examples of excessive centralisation in the federation. Successive constitutional conferences, including the 2014 National Conference and several committees established by state governors, recommended varying forms of state policing.

Previous attempts to alter the Constitution on the issue repeatedly stalled amid concerns that governors could transform state police forces into political instruments. Those concerns resurfaced during Wednesday's debate, with several lawmakers emphasising the need for institutional safeguards, independent oversight mechanisms, and strict accountability measures.

Senators backing the bill argued that Nigeria's worsening security challenges had made reform unavoidable. They pointed to persistent attacks by armed groups, increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom, communal violence, and the growing burden placed on the Nigeria Police Force, which remains one of the most understaffed police organisations relative to population size among major democracies.

Opponents, however, have warned that state police could become tools of political persecution in the hands of governors, particularly in states with weak rule-of-law traditions or strong executive dominance. Funding disparities between wealthy and poor states, they argue, risk producing a two-tier security system that leaves vulnerable states further exposed.

President Tinubu had described state police as unavoidable and urged lawmakers to accelerate relevant bills. The Senate's passage marks the fastest legislative movement on the issue in Nigeria's post-military history.

WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO?

If ratified, the reform would fundamentally reshape Nigeria's security architecture, creating for the first time a constitutionally recognised dual-policing system in which federal and state authorities share responsibility for law enforcement.

The Federal Government would then be required to enact enabling legislation setting out national minimum standards for state police appointments, training, and conduct, the operational scaffolding on which the new dual structure will stand.

The outcome of the state-level ratification process is expected to become one of the most closely watched constitutional debates in recent Nigerian history, with supporters framing the measure as a long-overdue response to insecurity and critics warning that the true test will lie not in the text of the law but in how it is implemented.

For now, Nigeria's 36 governors stand to gain significant new law enforcement authority and with it, significant new accountability for security outcomes in their states.