OGASTV NIGERIA

Connecting People to Leadership · Voice of Africa

Nigeria’s Senate Has Passed the State Police Bill.

BREAKING NEWS 

 · JUNE 24 2026

OGASTV EDITORIAL TEAM ◆

◆ 8 MIN READ

Here Is What It

Actually Means for You.

POLICY EXPLAINED

After 66 years of centralized policing, Nigeria has taken its biggest step toward state-controlled security. But this is not yet law and the concerns ordinary citizens should know about are just as important as the celebration.

On Wednesday June 24, 2026, Nigeria’s Senate passed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026 — by a manual show of hands after electronic voting systems failed. More than two-thirds of senators voted yes on all 26 clauses. The bill was transmitted by President Tinubu and ends Nigeria’s 66-year centralised police model. But it is NOT yet law. It still needs 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state assemblies to ratify it. Here is what is in it, what is still missing, and what ordinary Nigerians should watch carefully.

THE STORY

What Just Happened — And Why It Is Historic. 

For 66 years, Nigeria has operated one of the most centralised policing

systems in the world for a country its size. A single Nigeria Police Force controlled from Abuja, answering to the federal government has been expected to police over 200 million people across 36 states, 774 local governments, and some of the most diverse and complex security

terrain on earth. Analysts have long described this as structurally indefensible. The results have been devastating. Bandits operate with near impunity

across vast ungoverned spaces in the Northwest. Terrorists have killed

tens of thousands in the Northeast. Kidnapping has become a national

industry. Governors have been blamed for insecurity in their states but given no formal operational power over the police operating within those states. Communities have watched villages burn while police stations sat minutes away, waiting for instructions from distant

command chains.

““Nigeria is a vast Federation with diverse cultures, languages, geographical terrains, and security dynamics. The present structure limits local authorities from responding swiftly and effectively.”

— SENATE LEADER OPEYEMI BAMIDELE, JUNE 24, 2026

On June 23, President Tinubu formally transmitted the State Police Bill to the Senate. On June 24, in a session watched by governors, senior ministers, and the Chief of Staff to the President, the Senate passed all 26 clauses with a decisive two-thirds majority voting manually after

the chamber’s electronic voting system crashed and could not be revived for over 30 minutes. It was a moment Nigerians had debated, delayed, and deferred for

decades. The House of Representatives had already advanced its own reading. Now the Senate has voted. What remains is ratification by state assemblies.

WHAT THE BILL ACTUALLY SAYS

The Key Provisions — In Plain English

OgasTv has read the bill. Here is what it does, translated from legislative language to plain citizens’ terms:

CLAUSE 1

Nigeria’s police force is now split into two. The existing Nigeria Police Force is replaced by a Federal Police Service and, for each state that chooses to establish one, a State Police Service. Both operate simultaneously.

CLAUSE 17

Governors can appoint their own Commissioner of Police — but only with confirmation by the State House of Assembly. This is a major shift: previously, the President alone controlled all police appointments.

SAFEGUARD

Governors CANNOT weaponise state police. The bill expressly prohibits directing state police against specific persons, political parties, or groups for partisan, ethnic, religious, or personal purposes. Violating this is a constitutional offence.

FEDERAL OVERRIDE

The President can temporarily take controlof any state police under defined emergency conditions — including if the state police is found to be violating human rights, engaging in electoral intimidation, or operating outside the constitution. This requires written justification and Senate oversight.

NO AUTO-START

A state cannot just wake up and create police tomorrow.Each state must first pass its own law establishing a State Police Service, then meet national minimum standards certified by an Act of the National Assembly before becoming operational.

FUNDING

The Police Trust Fund allocation is doubled. The Senate also passed a companion bill raising the Police Trust Fund allocation from 0.5% to 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund — to help finance the new dual policing structure.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

This Is Not Yet Law — Here Are the Steps Still Remaining

IMPORTANT

The viral post circulating says “we got this.” Constitutionally speaking,

Nigeria has not fully got this yet. The Senate vote is a massive

milestone but three more steps remain before state police becomes

the law of the land.

 STEP 1 

Senate passage  DONE. Passed June 24, 2026 with more than two-thirds majority (80+ senators voting yes on all 26 clauses).

 STEP 2 

House of Representatives — Already Advanced. The House

had passed related bills to second reading. Full passage is

expected imminently.

 STEP 3

 24 State Houses of Assembly must ratify the amendment.Under Nigerian constitutional law, any alteration to the constitution requires approval by at least two-thirds (24 of 36) state legislatures. This is the critical final hurdle  and the most politically complex.

 STEP 4

Presidential Assent. Once the state assemblies ratify, the bill returns to President Tinubu for his signature. Only then does it become part of Nigeria’s constitution and binding law.

 

WHY THIS MATTERS

What This Means for Ordinary Nigerians  If It Works. 

THE CASE FOR STATE POLICE

THE GENUINE CONCERNS

✅ THE CASE FOR STATE POLICE

• Faster response times — police who live and know your community can reach you faster
• Better local intelligence — community-based policing gathers better information on local criminals
• Governors become accountable — they can no longer blame Abuja for every security failure
• Rural areas get coverage — vast ungoverned spaces that federal police cannot adequately reach
• Models like Amotekun in the Southwest show community security can work
• Every large federal nation — USA, Germany, India — uses state-level policing

⚠️ THE GENUINE CONCERNS

• Governors who are “emperors” could use police to crush opposition ahead of 2027 elections
• Ethnic and religious bias in recruitment could deepen divisions in multi-ethnic states
• Weak state finances — many states cannot fund their own police force sustainably
• Constitutional safeguards exist on paper — enforcement is the real question
• State SIEC abuses show how governors exploit state-controlled institutions
• South-South youth groups and civil society have formally rejected the current model

What Citizens Should Think — Not What Politicians Are Saying

The viral post circulating says “Thank you daddy Tinubu — we got this.” OgasTv’s and the citizens job is not to echo celebrations or dismiss them. Our job is to give you the full picture so you can form your own judgment.

The truth is: this is a genuine milestone. For 66 years, Nigerians have watched their security architecture fail them at scale. The argument for state police  that policing must be closer to communities to be effective is sound and supported by evidence from every large federation on earth. President Tinubu championed this since 1999. The Senate has now acted. That deserves acknowledgement.

But the concern is equally real. Nigeria’s political history is not a history of governors exercising restraint with power. It is a history of state-level institutions from SIECs to local government caretaker committees being weaponised for political survival. Giving governors their own armed police force, even with constitutional safeguards, is a serious risk in a system where the rule of influence still competes daily with the rule of law.

The safeguards in this bill are better than nothing. They are not better than strong institutions, an independent judiciary, and a culture of accountability none of which Nigeria yet has in full. The law is only as powerful as its enforcement. Watch the state assemblies. Watch the appointments. Watch 2027.

COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

How Communities Can Make State Police Work

— Or Hold It Accountable. 

CITIZENS :Learn the anti-abuse provisions in this bill by name. Know

that a governor directing state police against a political party is unconstitutional. Know your rights. Document any abuse.

Report it to your state assembly, the judiciary, and the media.

CIVIL SOCIETY :Civil society organisations must immediately begin

drafting model accountability frameworks for state police oversight independent police complaints commissions, civilian review boards, and community liaison officers and lobby state assemblies to adopt them before ratifying the bill.

STATE ASSEMBLIES :The 36 state Houses of Assembly are now the most

important institutions in Nigeria. Citizens must pressure their state representatives to attach local accountability conditions to their ratification not rubber-stamp it for political loyalty.

MEDIA :OgasTv Nigeria and other civic media must begin monitoring and publishing the voting record of every state assembly member on this ratification. Nigerians must know who voted for it, who against, and on what terms.

YOUTH :With 2027 elections approaching, young Nigerians must demand that every gubernatorial candidate discloses their plan

for state police how they will fund it, who will oversee it, and what accountability mechanisms they will establish.

LGAS :Legal experts like Ubani have warned that state police may fail without strong local governments. Citizens should link this reform to the ongoing LGA autonomy battle strong LGAs are the community foundation that makes local policing work.