The clerk to Nigeria’s National Assembly has confirmed that his office received and verified approval reports from 28 state legislatures on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow state police services.
Kamoru Ogunlana announced the verified count on 3 November. His office said it had examined the reports and accompanying legislative records to establish their authenticity and ensure they reflected the decisions taken by the state Houses of Assembly.
The figure is above the state-approval threshold of 24. Nigeria has 36 states, and the relevant constitutional process requires the support of at least two-thirds of their legislatures. The count describes the reports verified by the clerk’s office, not necessarily every state vote that may have taken place.
On 3 November, Ogunlana said administrative preparations were being made to send the amendment to President Bola Tinubu for assent. The statement did not say the bill had already been transmitted or signed, or that new state police services had begun operating.
How the count was confirmed
The confirmation is not the first public statement that the state-approval threshold had been reached. On 23 October, a presidential working group said 24 state legislatures had approved the amendment. Senior legislative figures later cited a total of about 30.
The clerk’s announcement is a separate account of the reports received and verified by his office. Earlier claims about the number of state votes should not be treated as identical to that verified count, or as proof that the bill has become law.
Both chambers of the National Assembly had passed the proposal before the clerk sent it to the 36 state legislatures on 16 September. The legislatures were asked to communicate their decisions within 30 days; Ogunlana said the requested period elapsed on 15 October.
His office would continue to accept state reports after that date until the bill was transmitted for presidential assent, he said. The October date was therefore an administrative response timetable rather than a point after which no further reports could be received.
What the proposed change would do
Nigeria has a centrally controlled national police force. The constitutional amendment is intended to permit a dual structure in which state police services could operate alongside a federal service, rather than replacing federal policing altogether.
The presidential working group has proposed a phased process. Under its plan, a state service would need to be established by state law and certified as meeting national minimum standards before it could begin operational policing.
Constitutional permission and an operating service are different stages. States would still need the legal and practical preparations required under the final framework. The clerk’s verification does not establish that those preparations have been completed.
A separate draft National Policing Bill is intended to set out the operational framework. On 19 October, the presidential working group sent that draft and 29 related amendment bills to the Federal Ministry of Justice for legislative drafting review. That work is separate from the state votes on the constitutional amendment.
The working group has said the proposed framework should cover national standards, state readiness, recruitment, training, funding and oversight. Its plans also include arrangements for complaints, discipline and the transition from the existing system. The eventual requirements will depend on the final legislation.
Security and accountability
Supporters of state policing argue that services closer to local communities could respond more effectively to local security threats. Such improvements are an aim advanced by supporters, not a result established by the latest legislative announcement.
Critics have raised concerns that state police could be used to intimidate political opponents or restrict civil liberties. Funding and institutional independence have also featured in the debate. These are concerns about how a future system might operate, not findings that a new state force has acted unlawfully.
The working group has identified independent oversight and financial sustainability among its aims. How any safeguards work in practice will depend on the final legislation and the arrangements made for individual states.
