The Delta State House of Assembly has approved the proposed Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which seeks to establish State Police Services while retaining the Nigeria Police Force as the Federal Police Service.
All 23 lawmakers present during Tuesday’s plenary voted in favour of the proposed constitutional amendment, with no member voting against it and no abstention recorded. The approval makes Delta one of the states to formally back the ongoing constitutional process for decentralising policing in Nigeria.
Delta lawmakers back dual policing system
The proposal was considered after the National Assembly transmitted the Sixth Alteration Bill to the 36 State Houses of Assembly for consideration.
The bill seeks to amend the constitutional framework governing policing by replacing the existing single Nigeria Police Force structure with a dual policing system comprising a Federal Police Service and State Police Services.
During the Delta Assembly's sitting, the Speaker, Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, read the National Assembly's letter outlining the objectives of the proposed amendment.
The debate was led by the House Leader, Emeka Nwaobi, who argued that the proposed system would strengthen the protection of lives and property by allowing states to establish and fund their own police services.
Nwaobi said a decentralised policing arrangement would enable state authorities to respond more directly to security challenges at the local level.
Following the unanimous vote, Speaker Guwor directed the Clerk of the Assembly to formally communicate the House's resolution to the National Assembly for further action.
What the proposed State Police system would change
Under the proposed constitutional framework, the existing Nigeria Police Force would become the Federal Police Service, while individual states would have the constitutional basis to establish their own State Police Services.
The intention is to create a policing structure in which federal and state law-enforcement institutions operate within their respective areas of responsibility.
Supporters of the proposal argue that policing at the state level could allow officers to develop greater knowledge of local communities and respond more quickly to security incidents.
The reform has been promoted against the backdrop of Nigeria's continuing security challenges, including kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, communal violence and other forms of organised crime.
President Bola Tinubu has also supported the establishment of state police as part of efforts to improve Nigeria's security architecture. Reuters previously reported that supporters of the reform argue that decentralisation could improve emergency response, intelligence gathering and officers' understanding of local communities.
Funding and oversight remain important issues
Although the constitutional amendment would create the framework for State Police Services, the practical operation of state police would require additional legislation and institutional arrangements.
Questions around funding, training, recruitment, standards, accountability and oversight have been central to the national debate.
Critics of state police have expressed concerns about the possibility of political interference by state governors and the potential misuse of state-controlled security forces against political opponents or vulnerable groups.
There are also concerns that poorer states could struggle to finance adequately equipped and professionally trained police services. Reuters reported that these issues remain among the concerns raised by opponents of the proposed reform.
The proposed National Policing Bill is expected to provide much of the legislative framework needed to implement the new policing structure.
The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill said its draft legislation had been completed and submitted to the Federal Ministry of Justice, alongside 29 consequential amendment bills, for legislative drafting review and validation. The ministry was expected to return the validated drafts to the working group by October 30.
Constitutional amendment still requires further steps
Delta's approval does not by itself establish a State Police Service.
Nigeria's Constitution sets a specific procedure for constitutional alterations. Under Section 9(2), an alteration passed by the National Assembly must also receive approval through resolutions of at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly before it can proceed to presidential assent.
With 36 states in Nigeria, the required threshold is 24 State Houses of Assembly.
The Presidential Working Group announced on October 23 that the Sixth Alteration Bill had received approval from 24 State Houses of Assembly, thereby meeting the constitutional threshold. It said the amendment could now return to the National Assembly for transmission to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
That means Delta's approval forms part of a broader national legislative process that has now crossed the required state-assembly threshold.
Delta says reform could improve local security
Speaking after the vote, Guwor described the approval as an important step towards developing a policing structure capable of responding more effectively to security challenges within communities.
He said decentralised policing could improve intelligence gathering and strengthen efforts to protect lives and property.
The Speaker also linked the proposed reform to Delta's wider security and development objectives, arguing that improved security is important for maintaining peace and creating an environment conducive to investment and economic activity.
For supporters, the central argument is that security challenges differ significantly from one part of Nigeria to another. A state-level police structure could therefore give authorities greater flexibility to address threats based on local circumstances.
State police debate has lasted for decades
The question of whether Nigeria should operate a decentralised police system has been debated for many years.
Nigeria currently has a centrally controlled Nigeria Police Force, with the federal government retaining primary constitutional responsibility for policing.
Governors have repeatedly argued that they are held responsible by residents for security conditions in their states while lacking direct operational control over the police.
Advocates of state police believe that creating state-level services could bring law enforcement closer to communities and improve response times.
Opponents, however, have historically raised concerns about political control, human-rights protections and the possibility of state security agencies being used for partisan purposes.
The proposed reform attempts to address the structural issue by establishing separate federal and state policing institutions within a constitutional framework.
What happens next
With the required state-assembly threshold now reached, the next stages will involve the National Assembly and the presidency.
The Presidential Working Group said the amendment can be returned to the National Assembly for the necessary action before being transmitted to the President for assent.
Separately, the National Policing Bill and related legislation will be reviewed and validated before moving through the legislative process.
If the constitutional amendment and subsequent legislation are completed, states would then need to establish their own legal and administrative structures before State Police Services could begin operating.
The reform therefore represents more than simply changing the name or structure of Nigeria's existing police institution. It would introduce a fundamentally different policing arrangement in which federal and state authorities share responsibility for policing.
For Delta State, Tuesday's unanimous approval places the state among those supporting the proposed change and moves the state closer to participating in the proposed dual policing system should the constitutional and legislative process be completed.
