JUST IN: Senate Passes State Police Bill, Empowers Governors to Appoint Commissioners, Issue Directives

The Senate on Wednesday passed the State Police Bill, a landmark constitutional amendment proposal that seeks to establish state police services across the country alongside the existing federal policing structure.

The bill was approved after the upper chamber considered and adopted the report of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin.

The legislation scaled through clause-by-clause consideration at the Committee of the Whole before securing the required constitutional threshold for passage.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the passage of the bill after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support through a manual voting process.

The debate on the bill was led by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, who sponsored the executive-backed proposal on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

The legislation seeks to create a dual policing system under which state police services would operate concurrently with the Nigeria Police Force, which remains under federal control.

One of the most significant provisions of the bill is contained in Clause 17, which deals with the appointment, command, direction and tenure of police leadership at both federal and state levels.

Under the proposed framework, the Federal Police Service will continue to be headed by the Inspector-General of Police, while each State Police Service will be led by a Commissioner of Police appointed by the governor and confirmed by the State House of Assembly.

The bill also grants governors powers to issue lawful written directives of a general policy nature to their respective state police commissioners on matters relating to public safety and public order.

Specifically, Section 17(6) provides that:

“A Governor of a State may give to the Commissioner of Police of that State lawful written directives of a general nature with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order within the State.”

However, lawmakers included safeguards aimed at preventing political abuse of the proposed state police structure.

Section 17(7) expressly prohibits state police commissioners from arresting, detaining, investigating, prosecuting or deploying force against any individual, political party or group solely for criticising the government except in accordance with the law.

The provision is designed to ensure that state police institutions are not weaponised against political opponents, critics or dissenting voices and that all actions remain subject to due process and constitutional safeguards.

The passage of the bill marks a major milestone in Nigeria’s ongoing constitutional reform process and represents one of the most significant security sector reforms considered by the National Assembly in recent years.

Details Later.