The House of Representatives, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, passed a landmark constitutional amendment bill aimed at establishing state police across the country.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly during a plenary session to approve the legislation, advancing a highly anticipated decentralised policing framework designed to fundamentally restructure the nation’s internal security architecture.
The legislation, formally titled the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, was considered by the Committee of the Whole, presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Following a report presented by the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Benjamin Kalu, lawmakers engaged in a manual voting process.
The State Police bill passed with an overwhelming majority, securing 289 supportive votes to comfortably clear the required constitutional threshold.
The session was not without its fair share of drama, as shortly after the lawmakers settled down for the business of the day, Kaduna lawmaker, Bashir Zubairu, moved a point of order, explaining that the document on the proposed state police put together by the House Committee on Constitution Review got to the lawmakers only on Thursday afternoon.
Recognised to speak by the speaker, Zubairu said, “Mr Speaker, this document was only made available to lawmakers in the chambers, and we are yet to go through it. We cannot do justice to it because we have not gone through it.”
Zubairu, a member of the African Democratic Congress, was ruled out of order, allowing the process to proceed.
While the Speaker took members through the clauses, voices shouting “Point of Order” could be heard, but the presiding officer ignored them.
Before the voting began, Abbas announced that the electronic voting system was faulty, noting that the exercise would be conducted based on attendance.
Out of the 290 members in attendance, 289 voted in favour of state police while one voted against. The Speaker abstained from voting.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the House committed Thursday’s plenary to voting on the State Police Bill following the spike in killings, kidnappings, and banditry in the past few months.
