The National Assembly has started collating reports from state legislatures on the proposed creation of state police. The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, says the constitutional threshold for the change has been met.
Bamidele spoke on Thursday at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Plateau State. He was delivering a lecture to participants of Senior Executive Course 48.
According to him, at least 30 State Houses of Assembly have approved the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill, 2026. That is above the two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies that Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution requires.
Bamidele called it a historic milestone. He said state police has moved “from rhetoric to reality.”
Next, both chambers must consider the reports from the states. They will then pass a resolution by simple majority. After that, the bill goes to President Bola Tinubu for assent. Bamidele said the Assembly aims to finish all these steps by December 2026.
Nigeria’s police force is currently run mainly from the centre. Supporters of state police say state-level forces would improve local intelligence, response times and accountability. Critics fear governors could misuse them against political opponents.
Bamidele tried to ease those worries. He said the system would work within constitutional safeguards, oversight mechanisms and human rights protections. He added that the aim is not to create state armies. Rather, it is to build state-led policing arrangements anchored in local communities.
He also said the reform would not weaken the Federal Government. In his view, it would strengthen Nigeria’s federal system. He noted that efforts to create state police had failed for more than 15 years. He credited Senate President Godswill Akpabio for backing the current push.
Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central and is Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, also defended the 10th Assembly’s record. He listed laws such as the Student Loans Act, the Minimum Wage Amendment Act, the four Tax Reform Acts of 2025 and the Electoral Act, 2026.
He argued that lawmakers should be judged by the real effect of their laws, not by how many bills they pass. Good laws, he said, are not enough without proper funding, implementation and monitoring.
