The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police, marking a major legislative shift toward decentralizing Nigeria’s policing system amid worsening insecurity nationwide.
Lawmakers voted to advance the bill during plenary, following an announcement by Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Benjamin Kalu, that the chamber would prioritize the legislation this week.
The bill, sponsored by Kalu and 14 other lawmakers, passed second reading on February 20, 2024. It seeks to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby empowering states to establish and control their own police formations.
To achieve this, the proposed legislation seeks amendments to Sections 197, 214 and 215, among others, of the 1999 Constitution. The amendment would also provide for ‘State Police Council’ and ‘State Police Service Commission’, with the State Police Council comprising the governor as chairman, the chairman of the State Police Service Commission, and the State Commissioner of Police.
Kalu said the move responds to rising incidents of kidnapping, terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes across several parts of the country. He argued that security of lives and property is not the exclusive preserve of the executive arm, but concerns all three arms of government.
“We have discovered that leaving the law as it is will not give us the expected results Nigerians desire,” Kalu said. “Therefore, we have prioritised constitutional amendments aimed at unbundling security-related challenges through legislation targeting state policing”.
He noted that extensive consultations had been carried out, adding that the Inspector-General of Police, the executive arm of government, and all 36 state governors had expressed support for state policing.
Kalu disclosed that the House directed all members outside Abuja on oversight functions to suspend activities and return for Thursday’s voting procedure, describing the nation’s security situation as an emergency.
“We want all our members to be in the House so that we can show our constituents that we are in support of state police and that security remains a priority on our agenda,” lawmakers said.
The current centralised structure, under Section 214 of the Constitution, limits effective decentralisation of policing. Nigeria currently operates a single police system with less than 400,000 officers for over 200 million citizens, far short of the UN’s recommended ratio of 1 officer per 400 citizens.
Supporters argue that state-controlled police would improve intelligence gathering, strengthen community policing and enable quicker responses to threats. Critics have expressed concerns that state governors could abuse such forces for political purposes.
The bill forms part of the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution. If approved by the National Assembly and endorsed through the constitutional amendment process, including approval by at least 24 state Houses of Assembly, it would end the federal government’s monopoly on policing
The House leadership expressed confidence that once passed, the amendment would receive the backing of state governors and state assemblies for transmission to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
