Nigeria’s Senate made history on Wednesday, June 25, 2026, passing a constitutional amendment that replaces the country’s single, centralised Nigeria Police Force with a dual structure — a Federal Police Service operating alongside independent State Police Services in each of the 36 states.

The bill, formally 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 Related Matters (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 (SB. 1055)”, was approved during consideration by the Committee of the Whole, presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) presented the bill’s general principles before it scaled second reading, was considered clause-by-clause, and passed third reading in the same session.

The vote itself came with a twist. Electronic voting devices failed to function despite more than 30 minutes of repeated attempts to activate them.

Following a motion by Bamidele, seconded by Senate Minority Leader Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), senators resorted to a manual show of hands to record their votes.

What the New Law Actually Creates

The legislation draws a clear line between what federal and state police will each be responsible for.

The Federal Police Service will handle federal offences, security within the Federal Capital Territory, national security matters, interstate crimes, and organised criminal activities.

State Police Services, meanwhile, will be responsible for local law enforcement, maintaining public order, and protecting lives and property within their respective states.

The bill also creates constitutional provisions for state police commissions — independent bodies to oversee the appointment, discipline, and removal of state police commanders.

Furthermore, the federal structure remains in place in every state until a functioning state police service becomes fully operational, ensuring no security vacuum during the transition.

The legislation also allows the Federal Government to intervene in state police operations under defined circumstances — including a breakdown of public order, operational incapacity, or a direct threat to national security.

A Decades-Long Debate Finally Settled

The passage of this bill ends one of Nigeria’s longest-running constitutional debates. Advocates for state police have argued for decades that a centralised national force cannot effectively police a country of over 220 million people spread across vastly different geographic and security environments.

President Bola Tinubu had transmitted the constitutional amendment bill to the Senate on June 15, 2026, after first pushing an executive state police bill through its second reading barely two weeks earlier.

Wednesday’s passage of the constitutional amendment provides the bedrock that ordinary legislation alone could not supply.

The bill must now go to at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 State Houses of Assembly for concurrence — a requirement under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution for any constitutional alteration.

Only after that threshold is met can it receive presidential assent and become law.

If ratified, the legislation will represent the most significant restructuring of Nigeria’s security architecture since the 1999 Constitution came into force.

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