The House of Representatives has passed the Executive Bill seeking to establish state police, marking a major milestone in Nigeria’s push to decentralise policing and strengthen internal security.
The bill was approved during Thursday’s plenary after lawmakers withdrew an earlier constitutional amendment proposal on state police and adopted the Executive-backed legislation instead.
Its passage follows the Senate’s approval of a similar bill, bringing Nigeria closer to introducing a dual policing system that would allow state-controlled police services to operate alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
A total of 311 lawmakers participated in the vote, with 276 voting from the chamber and 35 joining virtually, according to Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
The legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police Services and for Related Matters (HB. 2797),” was passed after the House adopted the report of the Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
President Bola Tinubu had transmitted the Executive Bill to the House last week, stating that it builds on previous legislative efforts while introducing safeguards to ensure accountability and effective coordination under a dual policing system.
The House also rescinded its earlier resolution on state police and dissolved the conference committee previously set up to harmonise earlier versions of the proposal, opting instead to proceed with the Executive Bill.
If the constitutional amendment process is completed, the legislation is expected to pave the way for state police, a reform widely seen as a strategy to improve intelligence gathering, enhance community policing, and strengthen responses to security challenges such as banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism.
