State governors across Nigeria’s 36 states have intensified a coordinated lobbying campaign targeting the National Assembly, state legislatures, and the Presidency to fast-track the passage and presidential assent of the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill ahead of campaigns for the 2027 general elections.
​The renewed push comes on the heels of the House of Representatives passing the Executive-sponsored Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, on July 23, following a fresh legislative push transmitted by President Bola Tinubu. Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Benjamin Kalu, led the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, which seeks to move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.
State executives are pushing to have decentralized security frameworks operational before election campaigning intensifies, citing escalating regional insecurity including banditry, kidnapping, and insurgency as the primary justification.
While the House of Representatives cleared the measure, the Senate, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, referred the proposal to its Constitution Review Committee for harmonization and further consideration before it can be transmitted to the 36 State Houses of Assembly, where at least 24 states must approve it.
Opponents of the bill, including opposition federal lawmakers and civil society coalitions, are preparing a legal challenge against the process. Litigants contend that the proposed framework lacks sufficient safeguards against executive overreach, citing concerns that governors could deploy state-level police forces as political instruments against electoral rivals during the 2027 campaign cycle.
To mitigate fears of abuse, recent amendments passed by the House strip governors from directly controlling Police Service Commissions, guarantee direct funding to state police accounts, and subject any federal or state intervention to strict judicial review.
​Under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the bill must clear the Senate with a two-thirds majority in identical terms before being sent to state legislatures. With governors applying pressure at both federal and state levels, legal experts anticipate that the constitutionality of procedural voting methods and operational boundaries will likely be tested in the Supreme Court before any state police unit goes operational.
