Nigerian state police reform passes 24-assembly threshold
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on ThisDay
Twenty-four Nigerian state assemblies have approved the constitutional reform providing for a policing system shared between federal and state levels. With the two-thirds threshold of 36 states reached, the bill can be sent to the National Assembly and then to President Bola Tinubu for assent, presidential chief of staff Femi Gbajabiamila said.
Nigeria’s constitutional reform allowing a two-tier policing system crossed the required threshold of 24 of the 36 state assemblies on Friday. Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu and chairman of the presidential task force on police reform, announced the approval, according to ThisDay.
The vote by 24 assemblies meets the two-thirds threshold set out in Section 9 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution. The draft Sixth Constitutional Amendment can now be returned to the National Assembly for transmission to the president for assent, Femi Gbajabiamila said.
The task force also submitted the draft National Police Bill 2026, along with 29 draft legislative amendments, to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation on 19 October. The Ministry of Justice is to complete its technical review and validation by 30 October at the latest.
The bills will then be reviewed again by the task force before being presented to the president. The reform provides for a federal police force and state police forces, a system the government wants to introduce to strengthen the security of Nigerians. The assemblies’ approval was previously announced in an article about Nigeria’s 24 assemblies, published on 23 October.
