The Rivers State House of Assembly has supported the proposed amendment to the Constitution that seeks to permit the creation of state police services in Nigeria.
This development came as a result of the transmission of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 by the National Assembly to the 36 State Houses of Assembly for their consideration.
With the acceptance of the amendment, states will be allowed to establish and run their own police services besides the Nigeria Police Force.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, on September 16, 2026, transmitted the bill to the state houses of assembly as per Section 9 of the Constitution, 1999.
Section 9 provides that a constitutional amendment enacted by the National Assembly should get the support of not less than two-thirds of the States’ House of Assembly before it goes to the President for his assent.
This therefore means that for the proposal to be passed through as a constitutional amendment, it will require the approval of not less than 24 out of the total 36 state legislatures.
Even though there is no provision in the Constitution that stipulates the time frame in which the state assemblies should make their determination, the leadership of the National Assembly has set a 30 days duration for this process.
There has been additional support from the Federal Government as well, as it had constituted working groups tasked with coming up with the framework of this reform.
According to Femi Gbajabiamila, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, the proposed reform aims to make policing close to the citizenry as well as putting in place measures of accountability in order to make it more effective.
The move from the state further increases the list of states that are considering a constitutional amendment.
