Nigeria's Senate has approved a constitutional amendment that would allow individual states to set up their own police forces, ending a six-decade model in which policing is run entirely from the center — a potentially historic change driven by the country's worsening security crisis.
What the bill would do
The amendment, passed on June 25, would let each of Nigeria's 36 states establish a state police service meeting national minimum standards, while a reorganized federal force keeps exclusive control of counterterrorism, border security and organized crime, Premium Times reported. State governors would appoint police commissioners, subject to confirmation by their state assemblies, and could issue general policy directives on public safety.
The bill includes safeguards: it bars state police from arresting or targeting people for criticizing the government or from being used to suppress lawful political activity, and it allows the federal government to step in if public order breaks down. Existing regional security outfits could not simply be converted into armed state police.
Why now
The vote comes amid a severe security crisis, with armed groups, kidnappers and jihadist militants operating across much of the country; at the time of the vote dozens of abducted schoolchildren remained in captivity, ABC News reported. Reform advocates have long argued that governors are held responsible for security but have little control over the federal police deployed in their states, leading to slow responses to attacks. The push also echoes the 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality, which fueled demands for accountability and structural change. President Bola Tinubu had urged lawmakers to act swiftly, The Nation reported.
The case against
Critics and rights advocates warn that state police could be misused by governors against political opponents, ethnic minorities or protesters, pointing to past examples of security forces being deployed selectively. Questions also remain about how poorer states would fund their forces and how federal and state police would coordinate. Supporters counter that the bill's constitutional safeguards and the courts provide checks against abuse.
What happens next
Senate approval is a milestone, not the finish line. As a constitutional amendment, the bill must also pass the House of Representatives and then be ratified by at least 24 of the 36 state houses of assembly before returning to the president for assent. That multi-stage path is historically difficult and could take time, with political calculations in individual states likely to shape the outcome. Whether the safeguards prove strong enough to ease fears of executive overreach will be central to the debate at each step.
