Representatives withdraw earlier proposal to fast-track President Bola Tinubu’s more comprehensive state police legislation with fresh safeguards
The House of Representatives has taken a decisive step towards one of Nigeria’s most significant constitutional reforms by withdrawing its earlier State Police proposal in favour of President Bola Tinubu’s executive legislation, a move lawmakers say will strengthen safeguards while accelerating efforts to reshape the country’s security architecture.
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Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, announced the decision on Tuesday at the opening of the 2026 National Assembly Open Week in Abuja, describing the Tinubu State Police Bill as more comprehensive than the version previously passed by the Green Chamber.
The decision means lawmakers will no longer seek to harmonise the House and Senate versions of the earlier constitutional amendment.
Instead, legislative attention will shift to the President’s proposal, which incorporates recommendations developed by a presidential committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President and former Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Presenting the development as a pivotal moment in Nigeria’s security reform journey, Abbas argued that the country’s security realities demand a policing structure capable of responding more effectively to local threats.
“The deeper lesson of Oyo is that a nation of this magnitude cannot be policed in perpetuity from a single command in Abuja,” Abbas said.
The Speaker recalled that the House had already endorsed state police during the constitutional amendment process led by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu but said the Executive proposal offered a stronger framework.
“His Excellency the President has now transmitted to the National Assembly an executive version of the state police bill, one that is more robust and more comprehensive than the version this House earlier passed,” Abbas said.
“That bill is the product of a dedicated committee inaugurated by the President and chaired by a distinguished former Speaker of this House, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.”
Abbas confirmed that the House would formally recall its earlier bill to allow expedited consideration of the Executive proposal.
“The House will therefore recall the version it earlier passed, and accord the executive bill the expedited consideration that a matter of this urgency deserves,” he added.
Seeking to reassure Nigerians, Abbas rejected suggestions that lawmakers intended to rush the constitutional amendment through Parliament without public participation.
He said the legislation would undergo public hearings and detailed legislative scrutiny before any final decision is taken.
“Nothing here is concealed. The bill will pass through a public hearing and open scrutiny,” Abbas said.
He further assured citizens that the legislation would contain robust constitutional protections to prevent the misuse of state-controlled police formations.
“There will be accountability, the protection of fundamental human rights, and firm boundaries between federal and state authority, so that no state police force may ever be reduced to the private instrument of a governor,” he said.
The President formally transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, to the House in a letter dated June 15, urging lawmakers to give the proposal expedited consideration.
In the communication, Tinubu said the legislation would establish “a constitutional pathway for the establishment of State Police Services” capable of complementing the Nigeria Police Force in addressing Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
The President noted that the proposal builds on the work already undertaken by the House of Representatives while introducing additional safeguards designed to ensure that a dual policing structure can be implemented “quickly and effectively to the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Before the Executive intervention, both chambers of the National Assembly had independently advanced constitutional amendment bills aimed at decentralising policing.
The House proposal, sponsored through the Constitution Review Committee chaired by Benjamin Kalu, sought constitutional recognition of state police while retaining the Nigeria Police Force as the country’s federal policing institution.
It proposed the establishment of State Police Services by state governments, State Police Service Commissions responsible for recruitment and discipline, and clear constitutional divisions between federal and state policing responsibilities.
The Senate’s version similarly endorsed state police but introduced extensive safeguards, including restrictions on deployment outside state boundaries, stronger oversight mechanisms, federal supervisory powers during constitutional emergencies, and detailed rules governing funding, recruitment and operational accountability.
The Executive Bill is expected to consolidate many of those proposals while incorporating further recommendations made by the presidential committee established to refine the framework for decentralised policing.
Although the full text of the draft has not yet been released publicly, Abbas disclosed that it introduces stricter accountability standards and more demanding conditions that states must satisfy before establishing their own police services.
The debate over state police has remained one of Nigeria’s most enduring constitutional questions since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
Successive administrations have faced growing calls from governors, security experts, constitutional scholars and civil society organisations to decentralise policing as violent crimes, including terrorism, kidnapping, banditry and communal conflicts, stretched the capacity of the centrally controlled Nigeria Police Force.
The emergence of regional security outfits such as Amotekun in the South-West, Ebube Agu in parts of the South-East and various state-backed vigilante organisations has further intensified demands for constitutional reforms that would formally recognise subnational policing while defining its limits.
Supporters argue that state police would strengthen intelligence gathering, improve response times and deepen community policing.
Opponents, however, have consistently warned that governors could misuse state-controlled police to suppress political opposition, influence elections or violate civil liberties unless strong constitutional safeguards are entrenched.
Under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, the proposed amendment must secure the support of at least two-thirds of members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives before proceeding to the 36 State Houses of Assembly.
At least 24 state legislatures must approve the amendment before it can become part of Nigeria’s Constitution.
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With the House now aligning behind the Executive proposal, attention is expected to turn to public hearings and stakeholder consultations that will shape what could become the most far-reaching reform of Nigeria’s policing system in more than two decades.
Victory Emmanuel is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
