ABUJA — Twenty-five of Nigeria's 36 state Houses of Assembly have approved the constitutional amendment that would allow states to establish their own police, passing the two-thirds threshold required by the Constitution.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who chairs the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, disclosed this in a statement. The assemblies yet to approve the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill 2026 are Lagos, Ondo, Ebonyi, Kogi, Niger, Borno, Bauchi, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano and Sokoto.

The draft National Policing Bill and 29 related amendment bills were sent to the Attorney-General of the Federation on 19 October for a drafting review and are due back by 30 October. Gbajabiamila has described the policing bill as the most important bill of the administration so far.

The amendment, passed by the Senate on 24 June and the House of Representatives on 23 July, was sent to the states on 16 September. It creates a Federal Police Service and state police services under a new section of the Constitution, and allows the President to take over a state police service in defined circumstances.

The amendment still needs presidential assent. The National Policing Bill must then be passed, and each state must enact its own law before any state police force can begin operating. President Bola Tinubu set up the working group on 7 July 2026.