Twenty four of Nigeria’s 36 state assemblies have approved the state police amendment, meeting the constitutional threshold and clearing the way for it to be sent to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill announced the milestone Friday in a statement by its chairman, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is also the president’s chief of staff.

What the amendment does

The Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, would amend Section 214 to replace the single Nigeria Police Force with a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, creating a dual policing system.

States would be constitutionally empowered to set up and run their own police services, while the federal service would handle policing at the national level.

The Senate passed the amendment on June 24, and the House of Representatives followed. It then went to the state assemblies, where two thirds, or 24 of the 36, had to approve under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution.

Which states have approved it

Reports list the 24 as Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

Kaduna became the latest on Thursday, when its assembly unanimously endorsed the changes. Lagos, Ondo, Ebonyi and nine northern states, including Kano, Bauchi and Katsina, have not yet completed approval, according to the reports.

The 24 approvals already meet the requirement, so the remaining assemblies cannot block the amendment.

What happens next

Gbajabiamila said that, under Section 9, the amendment can now be returned to the National Assembly for transmission to the president for assent. The National Assembly is expected to confirm the state approvals.

A separate National Policing Bill, 2026, would set the details of the dual system. It is under drafting review and validation at the Federal Ministry of Justice and is due back with the working group on or before Oct. 30 for final consideration before it goes to the president.

The group called on stakeholders to support a smooth transition to dual policing, which it says is meant to improve public safety.

Supporters say state forces would know local terrain, languages and communities better than a single national force, and respond faster to kidnapping, banditry and communal violence.

Critics have long warned that governors could use state police against political opponents, and that poorer states may not afford them.

Approval of the amendment does not create a single police officer. States would still need laws, budgets, recruitment, training, command rules and ways to share intelligence with the federal service.

Reports did not say when state police would start operating, and the election is set for Jan. 16, 2027, about 12 weeks from now.

The 24 state approvals are a political breakthrough after years of heated debate. The much harder work lies ahead: confirming the votes, getting the president’s final signature, passing the policing law and building police forces that are well run, well paid and accountable to the people they are meant to protect.