The House of Representatives has suspended consideration of its own State Police Bill and resolved to adopt the framework proposed by President Bola Tinubu as the basis for creating state police across Nigeria.
The decision, reached during plenary, is aimed at harmonising legislative efforts and avoiding multiple bills on the same subject as the National Assembly pushes ahead with one of the country’s most significant security reforms.
The House had earlier introduced separate legislation on state policing but agreed that working with the President’s proposal would streamline the process and accelerate its passage.
Tinubu’s proposal sets out the structure for state police commands, including their powers, funding, operational guidelines and the relationship between state police formations and federal security agencies.
The move is widely seen as a major step toward decentralising policing in response to rising insecurity across the country, while maintaining constitutional safeguards and federal oversight.
The proposal will undergo further legislative scrutiny before any constitutional amendments required for its implementation are considered by both chambers of the National Assembly.
If eventually approved, the legislation would usher in Nigeria’s most far reaching policing reform since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
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