The Senate has expressed confidence that at least 24 State Houses of Assembly will support the ongoing constitutional amendment to create state police, paving the way for its establishment to tackle rising insecurity across the country, despite the limited number of approvals recorded so far.
The State Police Services Bill is before all 36 state Houses of Assembly after the National Assembly transmitted it on September 16 as part of the constitutional alteration process.
The state assemblies have until October 15 –30 days from transmission – to approve or reject the proposal.
As of Thursday, only Edo, Oyo, Osun and Rivers states had approved the bill, according to officials.
The measure requires the support of at least 24 state legislatures, or two-thirds of the 36 states, before the National Assembly can complete the amendment process.
Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said in an interview that the Senate had not seen organized opposition capable of blocking the proposal.
“We are a country of 200 million people,” Adaramodu said.
“You can expect that some people will go left while others are going right”, he added.
“But the thing is that it has now gone to the states”.
He said most Nigerians supported state police as a response to the country’s persistent security problems, while acknowledging that unanimous approval was unlikely.
“I am yet to see any group of persons gather to say no to state police,” he said.
“But we do not expect everybody to say yes to any proposal in Nigeria”, the chairman added.
Adaramodu dismissed concerns that the measure could remain unresolved until the next National Assembly.
He said the current 10th Senate would complete the process before its tenure ends.
“There is no need for fear,” he said. “I can assure you that it will be done in the life of this 10th Senate before the next one comes on board.”
The Senator said the National Assembly expected the state legislatures to return their decisions as early as next week.
The constitutional amendment would create a framework allowing states to establish and operate their own police services alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
Advocates say decentralizing policing would improve responses to local threats and reduce pressure on the centrally controlled national force.
The proposal follows years of calls to overhaul Nigeria’s policing structure as banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and communal violence continue to test the capacity of federal security agencies.
The National Assembly Clerk, Kamoru Ogunlana, said the State Police Services Bill was the only constitutional amendment proposal transmitted to the state legislatures so far.
Other alteration bills, he said, would be sent later after both chambers of the National Assembly pass identical versions.
Nnadubem Moghalu, Secretary of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, separately confirmed that Edo, Oyo, Osun and Rivers had approved the measure when he spoke at a parliamentary lecture in Abuja on Tuesday.
The proposal’s immediate challenge is arithmetic: four states have approved it, leaving 20 more required before the National Assembly can proceed.
Whether the remaining assemblies act before the October 15 deadline will determine the next stage of Nigeria’s effort to shift policing authority closer to the states.
