The bill, titled the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, was approved on Wednesday with the support of all 21 lawmakers present at the plenary session.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Babatunde Oke, disclosed this in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday.
He said the Speaker, Adeoye Aribasoye, had directed the Clerk of the House to forward the bill to the National Assembly, alongside observations made by the Ekiti legislature.
According to Oke, Aribasoye described the proposed introduction of state police as an issue that had featured prominently in Nigeria’s national discourse for more than two decades.
The Speaker said the Assembly had an important opportunity to contribute to the debate, stressing the need for a policing system capable of responding effectively to the security concerns of citizens.
He noted that a well-structured state police system could improve accountability by bringing policing leadership and oversight closer to local communities and their elected representatives, provided adequate constitutional safeguards were in place.
Aribasoye also argued that Nigeria could not afford further unnecessary delays in tackling its security challenges, describing state police as a practical necessity rather than a theoretical proposition.
Oke explained that the Committee of the Whole House had examined the proposed constitutional amendment clause by clause before presenting its report to the Assembly.
The committee recommended that the legislature approve the proposed alteration, subject to an amendment to Section 317A(5) of the bill.
Following its deliberations on the proposed legal framework for establishing and operating state police services, the committee urged lawmakers to grant concurrence to the bill.
The passage by the Ekiti Assembly marks the state legislature’s formal position on the proposed constitutional change, with the document now set to be transmitted to the National Assembly for further consideration.
