Twelve state Houses of Assembly have now approved the constitutional amendment that would let states run their own police. Nasarawa became the twelfth on Tuesday, Premium Times reported, voting through all 26 clauses of the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026. It needs 24.
What is actually changing?
The bill amends Section 214 of the Constitution to replace the single Nigeria Police Force with a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, according to The PUNCH. It also touches Sections 215 and 216 and adds a new Section 317A.
Who has voted?
Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Zamfara, Plateau, Taraba, Ogun, Delta, Kwara, Adamawa and Nasarawa. Adamawa passed 24 of the 26 clauses and rejected two. A lawmaker there told The PUNCH some colleagues “were not clear on those clauses.”Lagos is not on the list yet.
The second bill.
Changing the Constitution allows state police. It doesn’t say how they will run. That is the job of a separate National Policing Bill, which a presidential working group chaired by Femi Gbajabiamila sent to the Ministry of Justice on 19 October alongside 29 other amendment bills. The ministry is expected to return them by 30 October. Asked how long the review would take, the Attorney-General’s media aide said: “Due process must be followed.”
Why it matters to you.
Supporters say local police would know local streets better. Delta lawmakers also pitched it as a source of jobs. Critics, quoted by Premium Times, worry governors could turn state police on opponents, journalists and critics. Funding, recruitment and human-rights safeguards are still open questions. If you marched in 2020, you already know why that worry lands. That’s our read, not a reported fact.
What’s still unknown.
Who controls a state commissioner? Who pays the salaries? Who investigates a state officer who shoots someone. None of that is public yet, because the policing bill hasn’t been published.
The Senate says it wants this done before the end of the year. Twelve more assemblies have to agree first.
Sources: Premium Times (Nasarawa vote, 21 Oct 2026); Premium Times (draft policing bill, 21 Oct 2026); The PUNCH (five more assemblies, 21 Oct 2026).
