Reps reconsider state police bill, begin work on Tinubu’s proposal
The House of Representatives has withdrawn its earlier passage of the State Police Bill to consider a fresh version submitted by President Bola Tinubu.
The decision was taken during Tuesday’s plenary after the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, moved a motion to rescind the chamber’s June 11 approval of the bill. He said new developments had made it necessary to review its provisions and dissolve the conference committee set up to harmonise the House and Senate versions.
The move followed the reading of a letter from President Tinubu by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, transmitting a new Constitution Alteration Bill that seeks to create a constitutional framework for the establishment of state police services.
“I am delighted to present to the House of Representatives for consideration the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, which seeks to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to create a constitutional pathway for the establishment of State Police Services,” the President wrote.
Tinubu said the bill builds on the work already done by the House while introducing additional safeguards to support a dual policing system capable of addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.
The House subsequently gave the President’s version of the bill its first and second readings.
The proposed amendment seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, allowing both the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to legislate on policing and other security matters.
If passed by the National Assembly, the constitutional amendment will require the approval of at least 24 of the 36 state Houses of Assembly before it is transmitted to President Tinubu for assent.
