Five more state assemblies have backed constitutional amendments to establish state police as the Federal Government’s working group submitted a draft national policing bill and 29 related amendment bills for legal review.
The assemblies in Ogun, Delta, Plateau, Kwara and Adamawa joined Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and Zamfara in supporting the proposed reform on Tuesday.
The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill submitted the draft legislation to the Ministry of Justice on Oct. 19 for review and validation, said Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to President Bola Tinubu and chairman of the group.
The ministry is expected to return the validated bills by Oct. 30.
The working group will then review them before presenting them to Tinubu for consideration and transmission to the National Assembly.
The proposed reform seeks to replace Nigeria’s single police structure with a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
Supporters say the arrangement would improve local intelligence gathering and responses to security threats.
Gbajabiamila said the group remained committed to “a rigorous and transparent process” in preparing the legislation.
The constitutional amendment bill was sent to the 36 state assemblies on Sept. 16 after the Senate and House of Representatives passed it.
At least 24 state assemblies must approve the amendment before it can proceed.
The Senate’s spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, said lawmakers would wait to receive the executive’s proposals before commenting on its timeline.
“We cannot pass comment on what the Executive said until we receive correspondence from them,” he said.
The reform comes amid persistent insecurity across Nigeria, including kidnappings, banditry and insurgent attacks.
However, the proposed system has raised concerns that state governors could misuse local police forces against political opponents.
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