84 Senators Back State Police Bill as Senate Defends Constitutional Reform
The Senate has disclosed that 84 of its 109 members voted in support of the proposed State Police Bill, describing the outcome as strong bipartisan backing for one of Nigeria’s most significant security reforms in recent years.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the constitutional amendment was not a partisan initiative but the result of extensive consultations involving the Federal Government, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures, the Nigeria Police, and other key stakeholders. He noted that public hearings conducted across the six geopolitical zones generated widespread support for the proposal.
According to him, the bill underwent extensive debate and clause-by-clause consideration in both chambers of the National Assembly before securing approval from lawmakers across party lines.
Bamidele explained that the 84 affirmative votes represented about 77 per cent of the Senate’s membership, demonstrating broad national consensus on the need to decentralise policing to address Nigeria’s evolving security challenges. He stressed that legislators from opposition parties also supported the measure, describing it as a decision taken in the national interest rather than along political lines.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish state police services alongside the federal police structure while introducing constitutional safeguards to prevent abuse of the system. The bill has now been transmitted to the 36 State Houses of Assembly, where it must receive approval from at least 24 legislatures before it can be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for presidential assent.
