The Osun State House of Assembly has become the first state legislature to approve the constitutional amendment seeking to establish State Police Services, as the National Assembly clarified that only the state police bill has so far been sent to the 36 state assemblies.
The Osun lawmakers unanimously endorsed the proposed amendment at plenary on Tuesday after considering the bill transmitted by the National Assembly.
The development followed a clarification by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, amid reports that the entire package of proposed constitutional amendments had been forwarded to state legislatures.
Ogunlana said the only bill so far transmitted was the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, seeking to provide for the establishment of State Police Services and related matters.
He said the bill was transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration and approval.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is only this particular Constitution Alteration Bill that has so far been transmitted to the State Houses of Assembly,” Ogunlana said.
“It is, therefore, incorrect to suggest or create the impression that all the Constitution Alteration Bills before the National Assembly have been transmitted to the states.”
According to the clerk, the decision to prioritise the state police proposal was driven by widespread concerns over security and policing in the country.
He said other constitutional amendment bills would be forwarded to the state legislatures after they had been passed in identical form by both chambers of the National Assembly, in line with the constitutional amendment process.
In Osun, the Speaker of the House, Adewale Egbedun, presented the National Assembly’s request to lawmakers, asking them to consider and approve the proposed amendment.
During the debate, lawmakers argued that the creation of state police would strengthen security at the state and local government levels.
Lawmakers representing Ife South and Ede South constituencies, Lawrence Adeoti and Taofeek Olayiwola, respectively, backed the proposal, saying a decentralised policing structure could improve responses to security challenges.
Adewumi Adeyemi of Obokun State Constituency and Jeremiah Awoyeye of Ife Central also described the proposal as timely and capable of strengthening the country’s security architecture.
They said the amendment would improve the ability of states to deploy security personnel and respond to security threats within their jurisdictions.
The Majority Leader, Babajide Kofoworola, representing Ede North State Constituency, subsequently moved a motion for the House to approve the proposed amendment. The motion was seconded by Tajudeen Adeyemi of Ifelodun State Constituency.
The Assembly subsequently approved the proposal unanimously, making Osun the first state legislature to endorse the constitutional amendment since its transmission.
The proposed amendment still requires approval by the constitutionally prescribed number of state Houses of Assembly before it can proceed to the next stages of the alteration process.
The National Assembly said the remaining constitutional alteration bills would be transmitted to the states after both chambers pass them in identical form.
The state police proposal is part of broader efforts to reform Nigeria’s policing structure, with the National Assembly having passed the bill earlier in June before sending it to the state legislatures for concurrence.
Meanwhile, the Osun Assembly also dissolved into the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday to consider further amendments to the Osun State Park Management System Bill, 2026.
The committee considered proposed amendments and corrections to the bill before adopting them.
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