-Limits state police to local jurisdictions; allows federal intervention under conditions
The Senate has spelled out steps to stop governors from misusing state police once the new system is in place. This happened on the same day the chamber passed constitutional changes that would bring decentralised policing to Nigeria.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele laid out the protections while steering debate on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026. He spoke on Wednesday.
PUNCH Online reports that senators went through the bill clause by clause. Then more than two-thirds of them backed it in a manual vote taken right on the chamber floor.
The bill still needs approval from the House of Representatives, the president’s signature, and backing from a majority of state Houses of Assembly before it can become law.
Bamidele, in a statement issued from his office, said the proposed changes would set up a decentralised policing system. At the same time, they would block governors from using state police for partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional, or personal reasons.
He added that President Bola Tinubu sent the bill to the National Assembly. The goal is to give states room to handle their own policing while protecting national unity, accountability, and proper checks.
The statement, titled “Senate Adopts Measures to Prevent Abuse of State Police by Governors,” said in part: “The bill is intended to retain the Nigeria Police Force for federal policing duties while providing for the establishment of state police services in states that choose to adopt them.”
Bamidele spelled out exactly what each level would do. State police would enforce state laws, keep public safety and order, prevent and detect crime inside their borders, protect lives and property, and handle other local policing tasks.
Federal police, he said, would guard federal institutions, tackle counter-terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime, border security, arms trafficking, interstate crimes, and other national security issues.
He also described the narrow situations where federal police could step into a state’s affairs. That power would kick in only during an outright breakdown of public order in a specific subnational entity, or when a state police
