State Police bill: 27 of 36 State Assemblies have approved (24 needed)

Loading ratification data…

The road to State Police: previous attempts

Nigeria has had a single, federally controlled police force for decades. Proposals to let states run their own police have come before the 10th National Assembly repeatedly, both as constitution alterations and as ordinary Police Act amendments. The 2026 executive bill is the first of these to pass both chambers and reach the State Houses of Assembly.

6 earlier bills on LIP since 2024 0 of them passed Current: SB1055, passed by the National Assembly

3 Oct 2024 · House of Reps

HB1713 ESTABLISH AN OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR STATE POLICE FORCE IN THE 36 STATES Nigeria Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024 1st reading only Ordinary bill, not a constitution alteration

Sponsor: EL-RUFAI MOHAMMED BELLO. Ordinary Police Act amendment to set up state police structures in the 36 states.
30 Oct 2024 · House of Reps

HB1807 Provide for the creation of a multilayer Police force in Nigeria under the supervision of the Nigerian Police force Reached 2nd reading, then committee

Sponsor: ROTIMI AKINTUNDE OLUWASEUN. Multilayer police force under Nigeria Police Force supervision.
27 Nov 2024 · House of Reps

HB1920 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2024 (Creation of a Multilayer Police Force in Nigeria) 1st reading only

Sponsor: Emmanuel Ukpong Udo. Proposed a multilayer police force by constitution alteration.
14 May 2025 · House of Reps

HB1710 State Police Service Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2025 1st reading only Ordinary bill, not a constitution alteration

Sponsor: EL-RUFAI MOHAMMED BELLO. Would create a State Police Service Commission.
14 May 2025 · House of Reps

HB2257 ESTABLISH AN OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR STATE POLICE FORCE IN THE 36 STATES - Nigeria Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 1st reading only Ordinary bill, not a constitution alteration

Sponsor: EL-RUFAI MOHAMMED BELLO. Re-introduced version of HB1713 (Police Act amendment).
20 May 2025 · Senate

SB794 Establishment of State Police and for Related Matters (Six Alteration) Reached 2nd reading, then committee

Sponsor: BAMIDELE MICHAEL OPEYEMI. Senate's own State Police alteration bill; overtaken by the executive bill.
10 Jun 2026

House passes its own State Police alteration bill

Passed by show of hands; later rescinded in favour of the executive bill. Source
23 Jun 2026 · Senate

SB1055 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 (Establishment of State Police Services) Passed This bill

Sponsor: BENJAMIN OKEZIE KALU. Executive bill. Passed by both chambers and sent to the 36 State Houses of Assembly on 16 Sep 2026.
24 Jun 2026

Senate passes the executive bill

Hand vote after the electronic voting system failed; more than two-thirds of senators present in support. Source
15 Jul 2026

House rescinds its version, takes up the executive bill

The House adopted the Senate-passed text as its working document. Source
23 Jul 2026

House of Representatives passes the executive bill

Reported as 311 votes by NAN; Premium Times reported a voice vote. The minority caucus walked out. Source
16 Sep 2026

Transmitted to the 36 State Houses of Assembly

Sent by the Clerk to the National Assembly under Section 9(2). 24 approvals needed. Source
28 Sep 2026

Court challenge to House passage reported

Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/2191/2026 at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asks the court to void the House's 23 July passage, arguing a two-thirds majority needs a recorded vote by individual members and clause-by-clause consideration. Not yet assigned to a judge as of 25 Sep. Source
16 Oct 2026

National Assembly's 30-day target for the states lapses

Only 5 of 36 Assemblies had approved (Osun, Edo, Rivers, Oyo, Zamfara). The target was administrative, not constitutional. The House of Representatives declined to comment on next steps. Senate spokesman Yemi Adaramodu said no new deadline has been set and promised the process will be completed before the 10th National Assembly ends in 2027. Source
22 Oct 2026

24th State Assembly approval: two-thirds threshold reached

Gombe, Kaduna and Yobe approved on 22 Oct, bringing approvals to 24 of 36 with none rejected. Two came with conditions: Adamawa rejected 2 of the 26 clauses and Ekiti asked for a change to Section 317A(5). The National Assembly must still collate the resolutions before the bill goes to the President. Source

Stages come from LIP's record of each bill's readings. Only bills whose titles identify the subject are listed; some constitution bills are recorded only as "(Alteration) Bill", so earlier attempts may be missing.

State Assembly vote map Tap a state for details

Approved Rejected Deferred / abstained Yet to vote FCT (no Assembly)

PNG image with the current count, for sharing

By geopolitical zone

Road to 24

State by state

State	Zone	Result	Date	Vote	Notes / next step	Source

All constitution alteration bills Bills marked “Sent to states” have a state vote

Bill No.	Title	Category	Status

How this tracker works

The rule. Under Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, an alteration passed by two-thirds of each chamber of the National Assembly must also be approved by resolution of the Houses of Assembly of at least two-thirds of the States: 24 of 36. The FCT has no House of Assembly and does not vote. Once 13 Assemblies reject a bill, it can no longer reach 24.

Our sources. A state is only marked as approved or rejected when we have a published source: an Assembly statement, Hansard or a credible news report, linked in the table. Notes on states yet to vote (for example “to be laid on 28 Sep”) come from press reports and may change.

Spotted a vote we have missed? Email [email protected] with a link to the source.