Senate Leader Bamidele announces state police approval for 2026

Opeyemi Bamidele, the Leader of the Senate and Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, announced that no fewer than 30 State Houses of Assembly have officially approved the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill, 2026. This approval satisfies the two-thirds concurrency requirement mandated by Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Bamidele made this disclosure while delivering a paper at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Plateau State. He stated that the process is now procedural, with the National Assembly set to collate reports from the state assemblies, pass a resolution by a simple majority in both chambers, and transmit the bill to the President for assent, scheduled for completion on or before December 2026.

Bamidele emphasized that the reform aims to create state-led, community-anchored policing with clear constitutional safeguards, operational standards, oversight mechanisms, and human rights protections, rather than establishing political armies.