President Bola Tinubu has transmitted a Constitution Alteration Bill to the Senate seeking the establishment of state police, marking a significant step toward restructuring Nigeria’s security architecture.
The proposed legislation aims to amend relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution to create a legal framework for state-controlled policing across the federation.
The move follows repeated calls by the President for constitutional reforms that would allow states to play a greater role in securing their territories amid rising security challenges.
Earlier in February, Tinubu urged the National Assembly to consider constitutional amendments to enable state police, describing the reform as necessary to address terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes across the country.
During his Democracy Day address, the President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to defeating insecurity, declaring that terrorists, bandits and their sponsors would face the full weight of the law.
He also stated that more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralised within the last year, while noting a decline in terrorism-related deaths compared to previous years.
However, he acknowledged that the continued captivity of schoolchildren abducted in parts of Oyo and Borno States remains a painful reminder of Nigeria’s ongoing security challenges.
The state police proposal has gained momentum in recent months, with both chambers of the National Assembly advancing constitutional amendment processes aimed at decentralising policing powers.
The Senate is expected to reconvene for an emergency plenary session as lawmakers move to deliberate on the bill, which is regarded as one of the most far-reaching security reform proposals in the country’s democratic history.
