House of assemblies to pass state police bill simultaneously

Governors across Nigeria’s 36 states have agreed to ensure the State Police Bill is passed simultaneously by their respective Houses of Assembly once it is transmitted by the National Assembly, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has said.

Abiodun said the coordinated approach is intended to accelerate the establishment of state police across the country. Speaking at the ARISE News Town Hall Meeting in Abuja, themed “Building a National Consensus for State Police and National Security,” the governor said decentralising policing would bring law enforcement closer to communities, strengthen intelligence gathering and improve responses to insecurity.

He described the transmission of the Executive Bill on state police by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly on June 24, 2026, as a landmark moment in Nigeria’s democratic development. “What we aim to do is to ensure that all our Houses of Assembly pass this bill on the same day. What we see here is a dream that we’ve had for so many years unfolding,” Abiodun said. The governor noted that the proposal followed extensive consultations involving the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), state attorneys-general and other stakeholders, with many of their recommendations incorporated into the bill.

He also lamented that although governors are constitutionally recognised as chief security officers of their states, they currently have little operational authority over the police despite funding logistics, vehicles and accommodation for security agencies. Abiodun said the proposed state police structure would significantly improve Nigeria’s police-to-population ratio by creating an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 additional security personnel nationwide. NigerianCulture Magazine

He added that the constitutional amendment would move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, allowing states to establish their own police services. However, he stressed that additional amendments to the Police Act would still be required to address recruitment, funding, oversight, training, service commissions and operational coordination between state and federal police.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who also addressed the forum, said the proposed constitutional amendment includes safeguards to prevent political abuse of state police by governors. He said decentralised policing would improve intelligence gathering, strengthen community policing and enable faster responses to crime.

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah said the debate over whether Nigeria needs state police had effectively been settled, arguing that attention should now shift to implementation. According to Mbah, Enugu’s investment in surveillance technology, artificial intelligence-driven monitoring systems and a Distress Response Squad has reduced violent crime in the state by more than 90 percent.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the National Assembly would amend the Police Act after the constitutional amendment to provide the legal framework for state police operations. He added that the proposed system would include safeguards to ensure financial autonomy for state police service commissions and prevent political interference.

Former Edo State Governor and Senator Adams Oshiomhole also backed the proposal, describing Nigeria’s current policing arrangement as contradictory because governors are designated chief security officers but lack the authority to recruit, deploy or discipline police officers.

He argued that governors should be given the necessary powers to fulfil their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property while dismissing concerns that state police would inevitably be abused for political purposes