Plateau State House of Assembly has endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment seeking to establish state police in Nigeria, citing security challenges and the need to improve policing at the community level.
The endorsement followed the adoption of recommendations by an ad-hoc committee during Monday’s plenary, presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Naanlong Daniel.
Presenting the committee’s report, its chairman and member representing Qua’an-Pan South Constituency, Prof. Theodore Bala Maiyaki, said the proposed amendment was necessary to address prevailing security challenges and manpower shortages in the Nigeria Police Force.
Maiyaki said the proposal would provide a constitutional framework for the establishment of federal and state police services, with safeguards to protect human rights and ensure accountability, operational standards and effective coordination.
The committee also stressed the importance of security to the socioeconomic development of Plateau State and other parts of the country, recommending that the Assembly support the proposed constitutional alteration.
Following deliberations, lawmakers adopted the recommendations and voted in favour of the proposed amendment.
The proposal is contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana.
The proposed amendment is part of broader efforts to decentralise policing and strengthen responses to security threats across the country.
However, the Assembly’s endorsement does not automatically establish a state police service. The proposal must satisfy the applicable constitutional amendment requirements before it can become effective.
At least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state Houses of Assembly must approve a constitutional alteration of this nature, alongside the other applicable constitutional requirements.
In other legislative business, the Assembly passed two bills for first reading: the Plateau State Right of Patients and Medical Institutions Bill and the Plateau State Bill on Jungle Justice, Mob Action and Other Forms of Unlawful Violence Against Persons.
The House also resolved to proceed on recess from October 19 to November 10, 2026, with plenary scheduled to resume on November 10.
