Tinubu sends state police bill to Senate, pushing constitutional change to allow states create own police forces.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has taken a fresh step towards restructuring Nigeria’s policing system.
The President has formally transmitted a Constitution Alteration Bill to the Senate seeking the creation of state police across the country.
Obgist News gathered from senior legislative sources that the bill aims to amend key sections of the 1999 Constitution. If passed, it will empower the 36 states to establish, fund, and control their own police services alongside the existing Nigeria Police Force.
This move comes after years of pressure. Governors, federal lawmakers, traditional rulers, and security experts have repeatedly called for decentralized policing to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and farmer-herder clashes.
The National Assembly has already shown strong support.
Weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed the same proposal with a landslide vote. Out of 290 members present, 289 voted in favour while only one opposed it.
The bill is officially titled, "A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters."
In the Senate, the proposal has also scaled second reading. It has now been referred to the Constitution Review Committee for further legislative work.
President Tinubu first publicly backed the idea in February. He told lawmakers that states must be given more powers to secure their people because security threats differ across regions.
He repeated the call during his Democracy Day broadcast earlier this month. While vowing that terrorists and their sponsors will face the full weight of the law, the President admitted that insecurity remains a serious challenge.
He specifically mentioned the pain of families whose children are still in captivity, describing it as unacceptable.
Supporters of the bill say state police will work better because officers will understand local languages, terrain, and community dynamics. They argue this will lead to faster response times and better intelligence gathering.
Critics have raised concerns about possible abuse by governors, but proponents insist that clear legal safeguards will be built into the final law.
The process is not over yet. For the amendment to succeed, both chambers of the National Assembly must pass it with a two-thirds majority. After that, at least 24 out of Nigeria’s 36 State Houses of Assembly must also approve it.
If that happens, Nigeria will, for the first time since 1966, return to a multi-level policing structure.
For many Nigerians living daily with insecurity, the Senate’s next move on President Tinubu’s bill could be the most important constitutional change in decades.
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