State Police Bill: 32 assemblies approve, Senate gives four states Tuesday deadline

Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has given the four remaining state Houses of Assembly until Tuesday, November 17, to submit their reports on the proposed creation of state police.

Bamidele said 32 state assemblies had already approved the State Police (Constitution Alteration) Bill, 2026, while the National Assembly was awaiting reports from the remaining four to proceed with the next stage of the constitutional amendment process.

He explained that the deadline was set ahead of the National Assembly’s resumption, stressing the need for the outstanding assemblies to submit their reports before then.

The Senate Leader disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday after receiving The Sun Senator of the Year Award in recognition of his contributions to parliamentary leadership and lawmaking.

The Senate Leader, who was presented with the award by the founder of The Sun Publishing Limited and Chairman of the South-East Development Commission, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, said the proposed establishment of state police had moved beyond years of political debate and was gradually becoming a reality.

According to him, the National Assembly had crossed the constitutional threshold required for the proposed amendment under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

He said, “As shown in the records of the National Assembly, no fewer than 32 State Houses of Assembly have approved the State Police (Constitution Alteration) Bill, 2026. With this, we have successfully crossed the constitutional threshold under Section 9(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“We are now expecting four State Houses of Assembly to turn in their reports on or before the National Assembly reconvenes on November 17, 2026. This suggests that next week is going to be decisive and defining in the National Assembly. Whether the remaining states turn in their reports or not, we must move forward and fulfil the aspiration of our people.

“We are now under obligation to transmit the State Police (Constitution Alteration) Bill, 2026 to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency Bola Tinubu for assent. This is a responsibility we must consciously discharge on behalf of our constituents and in the interest of national peace, progress, and stability,” he explained further.

The proposed amendment seeks to establish a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, in a major restructuring of Nigeria’s centralised policing system.

The push for state police has gained momentum amid persistent security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and communal violence, which have continued to overwhelm security agencies in several parts of the country.

Successive attempts to decentralise policing have, however, faced resistance over concerns about possible political interference, abuse of power and the deployment of state security apparatus against political opponents.

Addressing such concerns, Bamidele said the proposed arrangement was not intended to create ethnic or state armies but to establish community-based policing structures operating within constitutional safeguards.

He said, “I believe in proactive lawmaking. I believe Nigeria must move from reactive governance to proactive governance. I believe our laws must be evidence-based, efficiently implemented, effectively monitored, periodically reviewed, and ultimately measured by their impact on citizens.

“I believe that separation of powers is not about hostility, but synergy; not grandstanding, but collaboration; not dissension, but interdependence among the arms of government. I have served most dutifully in the Senate with independence, but at the same time with constructive engagement with other arms because our collective responsibility is national development, peace, and security.”

Bamidele said the National Assembly’s legislative priorities were guided by the need to enact laws that directly improved the welfare of Nigerians rather than merely measuring its performance by the number of bills passed.

He cited the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, saying the Nigerian Education Loan Fund had disbursed more than N204bn to applicants across 89 colleges, 108 polytechnics and 126 universities.

He added that the National Assembly also passed the National Social Investment Programmes Act, 2023, to provide statutory backing and accountability for social protection programmes.

Other legislation he highlighted included the Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024; Tax Reform Acts, 2025; Investments and Securities Act, 2025; Electoral Act, 2026; Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2024; and Regional Development Commissions Acts.

The Senate Leader also used the occasion to advocate responsible use of social media, warning against character assassination, misinformation and attacks on public institutions.

He said, “We have seen characters assassinated. We have seen public institutions blackmailed. We have watched people deliberately distort facts. We have seen people unjustifiably peddling lies. We cannot fold our hands and allow this illegality to continue.

“I have been a victim of these outlawed activities at different times. I know many Nigerians have been victims as well. But the urgent questions are: Should we leave unregulated the space that will define our lives unregulated in the decades to come? Or do we prefer a space where characters are assassinated daily, lies peddled, and public institutions unjustifiably discredited?

“These are questions that key media actors – Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, Nigerian Guild of Editors, and Nigeria Union of Journalists – must honestly answer in this age of information technology. Otherwise, we must all brace up for the consequences of our inability to act at the time that matters most.”

He, however, reaffirmed his commitment to press freedom, an open parliament and sustained engagement with journalists, urging media organisations to promote responsible information dissemination.

Bamidele dedicated the award to President Bola Tinubu, his fellow senators, his constituents and God, describing it as recognition of collective responsibility rather than a personal achievement.

He was accompanied to receive the award by several serving and former political office holders, including former Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba; former Governor Gbenga Daniel; and Senators Adetokunbo Abiru, Patrick Ndubueze and Francis Onyewuchi.

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