The Rivers State House of Assembly has endorsed the constitutional amendment seeking to establish State Police Services in Nigeria.
The development followed 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 consideration and approval.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, transmitted the bill to the state legislatures on September 16, 2026, in line with the constitutional amendment procedure under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The proposed amendment requires the approval of at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly, representing 24 states, before the process can proceed to its next constitutional stage.
The National Assembly has also indicated that state legislatures are expected to communicate their resolutions within 30 days of receiving the bill, although it clarified that the period is an administrative timeframe and not a constitutional deadline.
The State Police Bill seeks to provide a constitutional framework for the establishment of State Police Services as part of a decentralized policing structure.
The proposal has received presidential backing, with Femi Gbajabiamila, Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, saying the reform is intended to bring policing closer to communities while establishing safeguards to strengthen effectiveness and public trust.
The Rivers Assembly’s endorsement therefore forms part of the ongoing state-level consideration of the constitutional amendment required to establish state police in Nigeria.
