The Oyo State House of Assembly has passed the constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish State Police Services in Nigeria, paving the way for the transmission of its resolution to the National Assembly.
The bill, which seeks to provide a constitutional framework for the establishment of state police, was passed for third reading during plenary on Tuesday.
Lawmakers considered the provisions of the proposed amendment clause by clause after the House resolved into a Committee of the Whole.
Tuesday’s sitting was presided over by the Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin.
Following the passage, the state legislature is expected to formally communicate its resolution to the National Assembly as part of the ongoing process to amend the 1999 Constitution.
The development comes after the National Assembly transmitted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for consideration and approval.
The proposed amendment is part of efforts to create a constitutional basis for the establishment and operation of State Police Services in the country.
The National Assembly had requested the state legislatures to consider the bill in line with their respective legislative procedures and communicate their decisions upon completing deliberations.
Under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, an alteration to the Constitution generally requires the support of at least two-thirds of all state Houses of Assembly, alongside the required approval at the federal level.
Consequently, the passage of the bill by the Oyo Assembly represents the state’s contribution to the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
The proposed establishment of state police has featured prominently in Nigeria’s security and constitutional reform discussions, particularly amid calls for a policing structure that allows state governments to play a more direct role in addressing security challenges within their jurisdictions.
However, the proposed constitutional alteration must secure the necessary legislative approvals before the framework for State Police Services can be incorporated into the Constitution.
