Senate approves safeguards against governors’ abuse in state police bill

The Nigerian Senate has passed a constitutional amendment bill introducing safeguards designed to prevent governors from using proposed state police structures for partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional or personal interests.

The legislation, titled the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, was approved by the upper chamber on Wednesday as part of ongoing efforts to reform the country’s security architecture.

Leading debate on the bill, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the proposed amendment seeks to establish a decentralised policing system while maintaining national unity, accountability and federal oversight. According to Bamidele, the bill was transmitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu and aims to create state police services that would operate alongside the existing federal police structure.

He said the proposal would empower the National Assembly to set minimum national standards covering recruitment, training, vetting, promotions, discipline, use of force, firearms regulation, complaints procedures, accountability mechanisms, data management and professional conduct.

Under the proposed framework, states would have the option of establishing their own police services, while the federal police would retain responsibility for national policing functions. Bamidele said state police services would be tasked with enforcing state laws, maintaining public order, preventing and detecting crimes within their jurisdictions, protecting lives and property, and carrying out other local policing duties.

He added that the federal police would continue to oversee national security matters, including the protection of federal institutions, counter-terrorism operations, organised crime, cybercrime, border security, arms trafficking and interstate criminal activities. The senate leader also outlined the circumstances under which the federal government could intervene in the operations of a state police service.

According to him, intervention would only be permitted in cases involving a breakdown of public order, the inability of a state police service to function effectively, serious violations of fundamental rights, electoral intimidation or threats to national security. He said any such intervention must be authorised in writing by the president and would be limited in scope and duration, subject to Senate oversight and judicial review.

“The bill provides robust safeguards against abuse, preserves federal authority where necessary, protects constitutional rights and creates a modern policing framework capable of addressing contemporary security challenges,” Bamidele said. He added that the proposal seeks “to balance local policing autonomy with national cohesion, accountability with operational effectiveness and federal oversight with state responsibility”.