The proposed constitutional amendment for state police has secured the approval of 24 state Houses of Assembly, meeting the required two-thirds threshold, the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has said.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the group’s chairman and chief of staff to the president, announced the position in a statement on Friday, October 23. The proposal provides for a dual system comprising a Federal Police Service and state police services.
The group said the amendment could now be returned to the National Assembly for transmission to President Bola Tinubu for assent. The reported state-assembly approvals are a legislative step, not the launch of operational state police services.
The constitutional proposal is intended to support the framework in the draft National Policing Bill, 2026. The group said draft bills were undergoing legislative drafting review and validation at the Federal Ministry of Justice and were expected back on or before Friday, October 30.
Channels Television reported that the working group had submitted the draft policing bill and 29 consequential amendment bills to the ministry after completing its drafting stage on October 19. The review is intended to check drafting standards and possible conflicts with existing laws.
The approvals follow votes by individual state legislatures. In an earlier report here, the Kaduna Assembly endorsed the constitutional proposal at Thursday’s plenary.
After the justice ministry returns the validated drafts, the working group said it would consider them finally before presenting them to the president.
Sources: Punch, Channels Television
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