State Police: National Assembly Begins Process to Transmit Bill to Tinubu.
The development marks a significant step towards the proposed decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing system, after the number of approving state legislatures exceeded the constitutionally prescribed threshold of 24 states.
The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Kamoru Ogunlana, disclosed this Tuesday in a statement, confirming that his office had received and verified reports from 28 state Houses of Assembly indicating their approval of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, seeking to provide for the establishment of State Police Services and related matters.
Ogunlana explained that Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution requires the approval of not less than two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly, equivalent to 24 states, before a constitutional alteration can proceed.
With 28 state legislatures having endorsed the proposed amendment, the constitutional requirement has been satisfied, paving the way for the National Assembly to commence the process of transmitting the bill to the president. According to the statement, the bill was transmitted by the Clerk to the National Assembly to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16, 2026, for their consideration and approval, with a request that their decisions be communicated to the National Assembly within 30 days. Although the stipulated period expired on October 15, Ogunlana said his office would continue to receive reports from the state legislatures until the bill was transmitted for presidential assent. He said the National Assembly had undertaken the necessary administrative verification of the reports and accompanying votes and proceedings to establish their authenticity and ensure that the records accurately reflected the decisions taken by the respective state legislatures.
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