Isiyaku Ahmed
The Kano State House of Assembly has passed a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police services across Nigeria.
The bill was passed during Tuesday’s plenary, presided over by the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Isma’il Falgore, following a clause-by-clause consideration of its 26 provisions by the Committee of the Whole and its subsequent passage through third reading.
The development marks another step in the ongoing national process to decentralise policing and empower state governments to establish police services tailored to their security needs.
The proposed constitutional amendment is part of broader efforts to address Nigeria’s persistent security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other violent crimes that have placed pressure on the existing centralised policing system.
Under the proposed arrangement, states would be able to establish and manage their own police services, potentially improving responses to local security threats through personnel with better knowledge of their communities and terrain.
Proponents of state police have argued that decentralising policing could improve intelligence gathering, strengthen community-based security and reduce the operational burden on the Nigeria Police Force.
However, the proposal has also generated concerns about possible political interference, human rights abuses, inadequate funding and the potential misuse of state police by powerful political actors.
The proposed constitutional amendment is therefore expected to require appropriate safeguards to ensure accountability, operational independence and respect for fundamental rights.
The Kano Assembly’s passage of the bill comes amid ongoing constitutional review efforts aimed at securing the approval of state legislatures for amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
Under Section 9 of the Constitution, an alteration generally requires the support of at least two-thirds of all members of each House of the National Assembly, as well as approval by resolutions of at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly.
