President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had earlier asked the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution. Moreover, he urged lawmakers to create a legal structure for a decentralised police force.
Now, the upper chamber says action will begin immediately after plenary resumes next week. However, the promise goes further than many expected. Lawmakers say the amendment will be completed before election campaigns begin.
The renewed drive for a state police constitutional amendment follows Tinubu’s separate requests to both chambers. On Wednesday, he met with Senate leaders. On Friday, he formally wrote to the House of Representatives.
Yemi Adaramodu, Senate spokesperson, confirmed the timeline in an interview.
“We are going to commence the process of reviewing the constitution for the establishment of state police immediately we resume next week,” he said.
He assured Nigerians that the process would not drag on. “We want to assure Nigerians that before the general election, we would have amended the constitution to allow for the creation of state police.”
Furthermore, he stressed urgency. “We are going to expeditiously treat the matter. We are giving our assurance that before the end of this year, the amendment will be done so that we can have the state police.”
He added, “Before electioneering starts, we would have done and dusted it, then pass it on to Mr President for his assent.”
According to him, groundwork had already been completed. Consultations were held across geopolitical zones. Stakeholders were engaged nationwide before attention shifted to electoral reforms.
“Before now, we had already done a lot; we went on a little break for the electoral bill, which has just been signed into law,” he explained.
He noted that time pressure influenced the delay. “We were under the pressure of time to deliver the electoral amendment.” Meanwhile, lawmakers also had to consider the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
“That is why we suspended plenary for just a few days. But now that we have dealt with that, we are picking the constitution review immediately,” he said.
Adaramodu described the proposal as widely supported. “State police is a popular demand,” he stated.
He added that backing cuts across political lines. “The President has signed into it, the state governors too have signed into it, and the National Assembly is in love with it.”
The state police constitutional amendment is seen as a response to growing security concerns.
