OSUN LAWMAKERS BACK STATE POLICE PROPOSAL AS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY EXPLAINS NEXT STEPS

The Osun State House of Assembly has become the first state legislature in Nigeria to approve the proposed constitutional amendment seeking to establish state police. The lawmakers unanimously endorsed the proposal during plenary on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, following a request from the National Assembly for state legislatures across the country to consider and approve the amendment as part of the constitutional alteration process.

The development came as the National Assembly clarified that only the State Police Services Bill has so far been forwarded to the 36 state Houses of Assembly. The clarification followed reports suggesting that the entire package of proposed constitutional amendments before the National Assembly had already been transmitted to the state legislatures. In a statement signed by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, the legislature said such reports were incorrect.

Ogunlana recalled that the National Assembly announced on September 16 the transmission of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, titled, “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police Services; and for Related Matters.” He explained that the bill was prioritised because of widespread public concerns over security and policing, while the other proposed Constitution Alteration Bills would only be sent to the states after they have been passed in identical form by both chambers of the National Assembly.

In Osun, Speaker Adewale Egbedun read the National Assembly’s letter requesting state Houses of Assembly to deliberate on the proposed amendment. During the debate, lawmakers including Lawrence Adeoti, Taofeek Olayiwola, Adewumi Adeyemi and Jeremiah Awoyeye supported the proposal, arguing that state police would strengthen security at the state and local government levels. They said the proposed system would give states greater capacity to provide security personnel and respond more effectively to security challenges within their respective jurisdictions.

The Majority Leader, Babajide Kofoworola, subsequently moved a motion for the Assembly to support the constitutional amendment, which was seconded by Tajudeen Adeyemi, leading to its unanimous approval. The Osun lawmakers also considered the Osun State Park Management System Bill, 2026, during the same plenary and resolved into the Committee of the Whole to examine proposed amendments and corrections to the legislation. Meanwhile, the National Assembly said the remaining constitutional alteration bills would be transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly in accordance with the constitutional amendment process once they are passed in identical form by both chambers.