Nigeria’s 60-year-old dream of state policing is now inches away from reality.
The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has confirmed that 24 out of the 36 State Houses of Assembly have approved the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, the bill that provides for a dual policing system in Nigeria.
The milestone was announced on Friday, October 23, 2026, by the Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to Gbajabiamila, the approval meets the constitutional threshold of two-thirds of the 36 states as required under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution.
“The Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, providing for a dual policing system, has been approved by 24 State Houses of Assembly, meeting the constitutional threshold of two-thirds of the 36 states,” the statement said.
WHAT THIS MEANS
For decades, governors have complained that they are called Chief Security Officers but have no control over Commissioners of Police deployed from Abuja. With insecurity ranging from banditry in the North-West to kidnapping in the North-Central and separatist violence in the South-East, the centralised policing system has been overstretched.
The new amendment will create two layers of policing:
– Federal Police Service — to handle federal offences, interstate crimes, national security
– State Police Services — to be controlled by states for local and community policing
With 24 states concurring, the amendment can now be returned to the National Assembly for onward transmission to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent.
THE 24 STATES THAT HAVE SAID YES
The states that have approved are: *Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.
The 12 states yet to approve as of filing this report are: Bauchi, Borno, Ebonyi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Niger, Ondo and Sokoto. Some reports as of this morning put the number at 25 approvals, indicating momentum is still building.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Gbajabiamila, commending the State Assemblies for their “decisive action on this reform of national importance,” said this approval gives constitutional backing to the framework the Working Group’s draft *National Policing Bill, 2026 is designed to implement.
The Working Group disclosed that the draft National Policing Bill and 29 consequential amendment bills* are currently undergoing legislative drafting review and validation at the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry is expected to return the validated bills on or before Friday, October 30, 2026, after which the Group will give them final consideration before presenting them to President Tinubu.
“The Working Group urges all stakeholders to support a smooth transition to a dual policing system that makes Nigerians safer,” Gbajabiamila added.
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
This is the fastest constitutional amendment in recent history. The National Assembly transmitted the bill to the 36 states on September 16, giving them 30 days. As of October 16, only five states had approved. Within one week, that number jumped to 24.
If assented to by the President, Nigeria will return to a form of regional policing it abolished in 1968 — but this time with modern safeguards, oversight, funding and accountability mechanisms to prevent abuse.
State Policing is no longer a campaign promise. It is now a constitutional reality waiting for presidential assent.