From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Ekiti State House of Assembly has passed a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to provide for the establishment of state police services across the country.
The House disclosed that the bill, known as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, scaled its second and third readings during plenary.
At the plenary, all 21 lawmakers present supported its passage, signalling the Assembly’s endorsement of the proposed constitutional framework for decentralised policing.
The Speaker, Rt Hon Adeoye Aribasoye, following the passage, directed the Clerk of the House to transmit the bill to the National Assembly alongside the observations made by the state legislature.
Aribasoye described the proposed establishment of state police as an issue that had dominated national discourse for more than two decades.
He said the country needed an effective and responsive policing system capable of addressing the security challenges confronting communities.
Aribasoye noted that Nigerians had repeatedly expressed concerns over delayed responses to distress calls, operational limitations and the distance between security agencies and the communities they were expected to protect.
According to him, inadequate and poorly coordinated local policing in some areas had contributed to insecurity, threatening livelihoods, disrupting education, undermining business confidence and weakening public trust.
He said a properly structured state police system could improve accountability by bringing policing leadership and oversight closer to the people and their elected representatives, subject to appropriate constitutional safeguards.
Aribasoye added that Nigeria could not afford unnecessary delays in tackling insecurity, describing state police as a practical necessity rather than a theoretical option.
In its report, the Committee of the House recommended that the Assembly concur with the proposed constitutional alteration, subject to an amendment to Section 317A(5).
The committee said it considered the bill clause by clause before recommending its passage, with a specific proposal to insert the words, “an Act of the National Assembly or a Law of the State House of Assembly, as applicable,” after the words “this Constitution” in the newly proposed Section 317A(5).
It said the amendment was intended to recognise the legislative authority of the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly, within their respective constitutional jurisdictions, in authorising relevant security arrangements.
The committee recommended that the House approve the bill subject to the proposed amendment, which forms part of the observations to be forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration.