The National Assembly has clarified that the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish State Police Services is the only constitutional amendment proposal so far transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly.
In a statement on Tuesday, Clerk to the National Assembly Kamoru Ogunlana said reports suggesting that all Constitution Alteration Bills before the National Assembly had been forwarded to state legislatures were inaccurate.
The State Police Bill is a key component of ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s policing architecture amid growing insecurity and longstanding calls for decentralised policing. The proposal seeks to empower states to establish and manage their own police services alongside the federal police structure, subject to constitutional safeguards and oversight mechanisms.
Ogunlana recalled that the National Assembly on September 16 transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which provides for the establishment of State Police Services and related matters.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is only this particular Constitution Alteration Bill that has so far been transmitted to the State Houses of Assembly,” he said, adding that it was incorrect to suggest that all pending Constitution Alteration Bills had been sent to the states.
He explained that the remaining constitutional amendment bills would be transmitted to the state assemblies only after they had been passed in identical form by both chambers of the National Assembly, in line with the constitutional amendment process. The National Assembly also urged the public and media to rely on official communications for updates on the status of the various amendment bills.
