The National Assembly on Wednesday confirmed that it has transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to the 36 state assemblies for consideration and approval.
Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, who disclosed this in a statement, said the bill was transmitted in accordance with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires a constitutional amendment to secure the approval of at least two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly.
The statement said the state legislatures were requested to consider the bill in line with their respective legislative procedures and communicate their resolutions to the National Assembly after completing their consideration.
The National Assembly said the Constitution does not prescribe a specific period within which state assemblies must communicate their resolutions on a constitutional alteration bill.
However, it said the state assemblies were expected, in the interest of an orderly and timely conclusion of the process, to consider the bill and communicate their resolutions within 30 days of receiving it.
The National Assembly clarified that the 30-day period was an administrative timeframe and not a constitutional deadline.
It also acknowledged the constitutional responsibility and independence of the state legislatures in considering the bill, saying the transmission was intended to facilitate the orderly discharge of their role in the amendment process.
It added that upon receiving the resolutions of the State Houses of Assembly, the National Assembly would proceed with the necessary steps in accordance with the Constitution
The State Police Bill, which was sent to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was expeditiously considered and passed by the Senate on June 24, 2026 while the House of Representatives passed the same bill on July 23, 2026.
The passage of the executive bill officially sets the stage to dismantle the decades-old unitary structure of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and replace it with a dual model, comprising the Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
Under the newly substituted Section 214 of the Constitution, the Federal Police Service retains absolute monopoly over major security sectors, ensuring that the federal government remains the ultimate custodian of the nation’s territorial integrity.
The Federal Police will maintain exclusive jurisdiction over National security, terrorism, and cybercrime; inter-state crimes, arms-trafficking, and international crime syndicates.
The bill clarifies that while state police will manage domestic public safety, they are completely barred from cross-border law enforcement.
A State Police Service shall not exercise police powers outside the borders of the state for which it is established, except as specifically authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.
One of the most intensely debated aspects of the bill centres on the federal government’s veto power to override state control. The legislation empowers the president to bypass state governors and temporarily assume direct operational command of any State Police Service under strict exceptional metrics.
The conditions under which a federal takeover can occur are explicitly detailed to prevent arbitrary federal interference, while ensuring that rogue or incapacitated state police forces are quickly brought to heel.
These triggers include “where there is an actual or imminent breakdown of public order or public safety which the State Police Service is unable or unwilling to contain;
Where the State Police Service is unable to function by reason of serious administrative, financial, operational or other incapacity;
Where there is substantial evidence that the State Police Service is being used for egregious or systematic violation of fundamental rights, partisan or electoral intimidation, ethnic, religious or sectional persecution, or unlawful obstruction of this Constitution…”
The bill stipulates that such federal interventions must be authorised in writing by the president, stating the grounds, targeted territory, and expected duration of the takeover.
Furthermore, a formal notice of the intervention must be transmitted to the affected State Governor, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, the National Police Council, and the National Assembly within 48 hours of execution.
The Federal Police Service will be headed by an Inspector-General of Police appointed by the President on the advice of the National Police Council, subject to Senate confirmation.
Daily Trust
