By: Odeh Favour Adiya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has officially transmitted a Constitution Alteration Bill to the Senate, seeking a legislative framework for the creation and establishment of state police across the federation.
The significant development was disclosed by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during Tuesday’s plenary session. Akpabio informed lawmakers that the upper legislative chamber would fully consider the constitutional amendment bill tomorrow, Wednesday.
According to the Senate President, various states across the country have already promised to look into the state police bill on the very same day they receive it, signaling widespread momentum for the decentralized security structure.
The proposed legislation essentially seeks to amend relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution to decentralize policing powers, empowering states to play a more proactive and greater role in securing their local territories against existential threats.
This major executive move follows repeated calls by President Tinubu for comprehensive constitutional reforms. It will be recalled that in February, Tinubu had urged the National Assembly to amend the nation’s supreme law to accommodate state police, describing the reform as a necessary measure to tackle terrorism, banditry, and other pressing security challenges.
During his Democracy Day address earlier this month, the President reiterated his administration’s hardline stance against criminality, vowing that “terrorists, bandits and their sponsors would face the full weight of the law,” while further insisting that “no mercy would be shown to enemies of the state.”
In evaluating his administration’s security scorecard, Tinubu noted that more than 13,000 terrorists had been neutralized within the last year alone. He added that terrorism-related deaths across Nigeria had fallen significantly compared to previous years.
However, the President acknowledged that the continued captivity of schoolchildren abducted in Oyo and Borno states remained a painful reminder of the country’s ongoing security challenges.
As the state police proposal gains unprecedented momentum, the Senate is expected to reconvene for an emergency plenary session as federal lawmakers move to pass the bill, advancing what many have described as one of the most far-reaching security reforms in Nigeria’s democratic history.
