The National Assembly has cleared the path toward dismantling Nigeria’s 66-year-old unitary security architecture, with the Senate on Wednesday passing the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026.
The Senate vote followed the House of Representatives’ earlier passage of the executive bill on June 11, where lawmakers voted 289 to 4 in its favour. Wednesday’s Senate session survived a 30-minute scare when the electronic voting system crashed, forcing senators to adopt a manual show-of-hands process. More than two-thirds of senators present voted in support, altering Sections 214, 215, and 216 of the Constitution to establish a dual policing model comprising a Federal Police Service and individual State Police Services.
Addressing the Abuse Question
For nearly three decades, the primary obstacle to state policing has been a deep national anxiety that governors would weaponise local forces to crush opposition, silence journalists, and manipulate regional elections. Lawmakers engineered a series of constitutional safeguards directly targeting that fear.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who led the debate, said the bill expressly prohibits any governor from directing a State Police Service to unlawfully target specific persons, political parties, or groups. The legislation also bars the use of police powers for partisan, ethnic, religious, or personal purposes.
Under the bill, governors may issue written directives of a general policy nature to their Commissioner of Police on matters of public safety and order. However, a Commissioner is explicitly barred from arresting, detaining, investigating, or deploying force against any person or group merely for criticising the government, except in strict accordance with the law.
If a Commissioner believes a governor’s directive is unlawful or politically motivated, the matter may be referred to the National Police Council, whose decision is binding and final. This gives police chiefs a formal legal escape route from improper executive pressure.
Security of Tenure
The bill also insulates police commissioners from arbitrary removal. A governor cannot unilaterally appoint or dismiss a Commissioner of Police. Appointments must come via recommendations from the National Police Council, subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly. Removal requires both an official investigative recommendation from the National Police Council citing stated cause, and a resolution supported by no fewer than two-thirds of all members of the State House of Assembly. In effect, a governor cannot sack a police chief for resisting political interference without clearing two independent institutional hurdles.
