State Police, Six Assemblies Face November 15 Approval Deadline

The Senate has fixed November 15 as the final deadline for the six state Houses of Assembly yet to approve the proposed establishment of state police to communicate their decisions, warning that failure to respond would be treated as withholding approval.

The decision followed an update by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, during plenary on Wednesday, that 30 of the 36 state legislatures had approved the proposed constitutional amendment.

Although the number of approvals has exceeded the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of 24 states, Senate President Godswill Akpabio appealed for additional time to allow the remaining six assemblies to make their positions known.

Akpabio said any state legislature that failed to communicate its decision by the November 15 deadline would be deemed to have rejected the proposed amendment.

He said, “They should be given more time. Let’s give them till November 15 to respond.”

The Senate unanimously supported the extension.

The 30 state assemblies that have approved the proposal are Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Bamidele explained that the constitutional amendment process required passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies and presidential assent.

He noted that the National Assembly had completed its part of the process, while the required number of state legislatures had also endorsed the proposal.

The proposed amendment seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution to provide for the establishment of state police services, allowing state governments to establish and manage their own police structures.

The reform is intended to decentralise policing and strengthen responses to security challenges by giving states greater responsibility for maintaining law and order within their jurisdictions.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, described the development as a major step towards establishing state police, saying the bill was expected to be transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

The proposal represents a significant shift from Nigeria's existing centralised policing arrangement, under which the Nigeria Police Force operates under federal control.