The Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday, 23 October 2026.
According to the statement, the approval by 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state assemblies satisfies the constitutional requirement for the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which seeks to provide for a dual policing structure.
The working group commended the state legislatures for approving the amendment and the National Assembly for passing the bill through both chambers.
“In line with Section 9 of the Constitution, the amendment can now be returned to the National Assembly for transmission to Mr President for assent,” the statement read.
The proposed amendment is intended to provide constitutional backing for the policing framework outlined in the draft National Policing Bill, 2026, prepared by the Presidential Working Group.
The proposed system would comprise the Federal Police Service and state police services, allowing policing responsibilities to be exercised at both federal and state levels.
National Policing Bill targets 30 October deadline
The working group disclosed that the draft bills were undergoing legislative drafting review and validation at the Federal Ministry of Justice, with completion expected on or before Friday, 30 October 2026.
It said the group would conduct a final review of the bills before submitting them to President Bola Tinubu.
The group also called on stakeholders to support what it described as a smooth transition to a dual policing system aimed at improving public safety across the country.
How the state police amendment progressed
The latest development follows a series of approvals by state assemblies since the National Assembly transmitted the constitutional amendment to the 36 states on 16 September 2026.
The transmission gave the state legislatures an expected administrative timeframe of 30 days to consider the proposal and communicate their decisions.
On 9 October, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Chairman Yemi Adaramodu expressed confidence that the amendment would receive the necessary backing, disclosing at the time that Edo, Oyo, Osun and Rivers had approved it.
A report published by PUNCH on 16 October put the number of approving assemblies at five, listing Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and Zamfara among those that had endorsed the proposal.
On 21 October, the newspaper reported that five additional states — Ogun, Delta, Plateau, Kwara and Adamawa — had approved the amendment, bringing the reported total to 10.
The latest announcement of approvals by 24 state assemblies marks a significant step in the constitutional process required to establish state police.
Separately, PUNCH reported on 15 October that Gbajabiamila had said the draft National Policing Bill was 90 per cent ready for transmission to the National Assembly following further deliberations by the presidential working group.
With the required state-level approval threshold now reportedly met, the constitutional amendment can proceed to the next stage of the legislative process, including transmission to the President for assent, as outlined in the working group’s statement.
