The Senate has outlined a series of safeguards aimed at preventing state governors from abusing state police powers as the Red Chamber passed constitutional amendments to establish decentralised policing across Nigeria.
The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed the measures while leading debate on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, on Wednesday.
The Senate passed the bill following a rigorous clause-by-clause consideration and after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support through a manual voting process conducted on the floor of the chamber.
It now requires passage by the House of Representatives, presidential assent, and approval by a majority of state Houses of Assembly to become law.
Bamidele, in a statement from his office, said the proposed constitutional amendment seeks to create a decentralised policing structure while ensuring that governors cannot deploy state police for “partisan, ethnic, religious, sectional, or personal purposes.”
He said the bill, submitted to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, was designed to balance local policing autonomy with national cohesion, accountability, and effective oversight.
The statement, titled “Senate Adopts Measures to Prevent Abuse of State Police by Governors,” read 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.
