Nasarawa Assembly Approves State Police Bill

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has approved a bill to create state police. This makes Nasarawa the 12th state to back this proposed change.

The lawmakers agreed on all 26 parts of the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, during a meeting in Lafia on Tuesday.

This bill was sent to state assemblies by the National Assembly for their agreement. It aims to change the 1999 Constitution to set up state police services to work alongside the Nigeria Police Force.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Danladi Jatau, asked the Clerk of the House to relay their decision to the National Assembly.

With Nasarawa's approval, 12 state assemblies have now supported this amendment. The other states are Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Zamfara, Plateau, Taraba, Ogun, Delta, Kwara, and Adamawa.

This proposal is part of ongoing efforts to change Nigeria’s policing system. The country faces serious security issues like kidnapping, banditry, communal violence, and conflicts between farmers and herders.

The proposed amendment wants to change Sections 214, 215, and 216 of the Constitution and add a new Section 317A. It will also make necessary changes to rules about police service commissions and how policing is managed at both federal and state levels.

According to Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, to amend the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly need to agree. This means 24 states must support it.

Now that 12 assemblies have approved the plan, another 12 need to agree for the amendment to succeed.

Supporters of state police believe that having local police will help with gathering information and make communities safer. They think that local police can respond better to local problems.

They also feel that state police can fix the issues caused by relying on a central police force in a country with various security challenges.

But some people worry that governors might misuse state police to intimidate political opponents, journalists, and other critics.

There are also concerns about how funding, recruitment, independence, human rights, and accountability will be handled.

At the federal level, the Presidential Working Group on State Police has sent a draft National Policing Bill and 29 related amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice for review.

Nasarawa's approval shows growing support for this change. But state police cannot be created until the amendment process and other necessary steps are finished.