State police: National Assembly confirms 28 states have approved the bill — it now goes to Tinubu for assent
Nigeria's state police amendment has cleared its state-legislature hurdle on the official count. In a statement on Tuesday 3 November 2026, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, said his office had received and verified reports from 28 State Houses of Assembly approving the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which provides for the establishment of State Police Services — more than the two-thirds threshold of 24 of 36 assemblies that Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution requires. Administrative processes to transmit the bill to President Bola Tinubu for assent are under way, the Clerk said. The verified 28 settles weeks of conflicting public figures: the Chief of Staff announced 24 on 23 October, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele later each put approvals at 30 — a figure the Clerk's verified count does not support, and which this page carries as a disputed claim, not a fact.
Checking in progress
This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
- Collecting reportsDone
- Grouping the versionsDone
- Checking claims5 of 5 claims checked
- 4Human gateWe are here
5 of 5 claims checked so far · step 4 of 4: Human gate
Key points
- The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, confirmed on Tuesday that 28 State Houses of Assembly have approved the state police constitutional amendment — the verified official count (BusinessDay, reporting the Clerk's statement in full).
- 28 clears the constitutional bar: Section 9 requires approval by at least two-thirds of the 36 assemblies — 24 states.
- The bill now moves toward President Tinubu for assent; the Clerk says the administrative processes for transmission are under way. Assent has not yet happened.
- Weeks of conflicting figures end at the verified count: 24 (Chief of Staff Gbajabiamila, 23 October), then 30 claimed by both the Senate President and the Senate Leader — the Clerk's verified figure is 28, and the 30 claim is carried on this page as Disputed.
What happened
The Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026 seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution to provide for State Police Services alongside the existing federal Nigeria Police Force. The Senate passed it on 24 June 2026 and the House of Representatives on 23 July; the Clerk transmitted it to the 36 State Houses of Assembly on 16 September 2026, asking for their resolutions within 30 days — a period that elapsed on 15 October, though the Clerk says reports will still be accepted until the bill is transmitted for assent.
State police has been debated in Nigeria for decades, against a security backdrop of banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and communal violence. Supporters argue policing closer to communities responds faster and knows the ground; critics have long warned of governors capturing state forces for political ends. The amendment supplies the constitutional framework; a separate National Policing Bill, 2026 is intended to supply the operational framework, and neither is law until the amendment receives presidential assent.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The Clerk is the officer who transmitted the bill to the states and received their reports — the primary source for the count. His statement is quoted verbatim and in full by BusinessDay (read in full in this pass) and carried in the same terms by The Nigerian News. His office says it verified the reports and accompanying Votes and Proceedings for authenticity.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Stated in the Clerk's own statement ('equivalent to 24 States, as required under Section 9') and in the Senate Leader's own lecture account of Section 9(2). The arithmetic (two-thirds of 36 = 24) is the Constitution's own rule, not an interpretation added here.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Both statements were really made — BusinessDay reports them with dates and settings (Akpabio receiving the Arewa Revival Project in Abuja; Bamidele lecturing at NIPSS Kuru). But the figure they gave is contradicted by the Clerk's verified count of 28, published five days later by the office that holds the assemblies' reports. The claims are carried as Disputed: the statements are fact, the number in them is not supported by the verified count. An even higher figure of 32 circulated in late-October reporting and is likewise unsupported.
On the ladder: credible sources conflict, so we show both workings. One side's own statement is that side's position — never proof.
Show all claims (2 more)
Why this label: The June/July passage dates and the September transmission come from the amendment's reported legislative history carried consistently across the reports read (Southern Robin's account and BusinessDay agree); the 16 September transmission, the 30-day window and its 15 October expiry are from the Clerk's own statement; the 23 October threshold announcement is Gbajabiamila's, reported at the time and recapped by BusinessDay.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The Clerk's words, quoted verbatim by BusinessDay. Carried prominently because transmission-in-preparation is not assent: some headlines in the same news cycle announce transmission as if completed. Until the Presidency announces assent, the amendment is a bill that has cleared the states, nothing more.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The Clerk to the National Assembly's verified count: 28 of 36 State Houses of Assembly have approved the bill, after his office checked the reports and their accompanying Votes and Proceedings for authenticity (statement of Tuesday 3 November, carried in full by BusinessDay).
- The threshold and what follows: Section 9 requires 24 of 36; the Clerk says transmission processes to the President for assent, under the Acts Authentication Act, are under way.
- The timeline: passed by the Senate 24 June and the House 23 July 2026; sent to the states 16 September; the 30-day window elapsed 15 October.
What we don't know yet
- Which 28 states approved, and which eight have not — the Clerk's statement, in the reporting read, does not name them; an earlier report claimed only Katsina, Bauchi, Borno and Niger were outstanding at a count of 32, which the verified 28 contradicts, so no state list is published here until an official one is read.
- Why the Senate President's and Senate Leader's figure of 30 differs from the Clerk's verified 28 — neither office has explained the gap in the reporting read.
- When transmission will be completed and whether President Tinubu will assent — the Senate Leader had spoken of completing the remaining stages on or before December 2026; no assent has been announced.
Show more (1)
- What the separate National Policing Bill, 2026 finally contains on funding, command and safeguards — it remains in the legislative process.
Why it matters
If President Tinubu assents, Nigeria's policing changes structure for the first time in its history: states would gain the constitutional power to run their own police services beside the federal force. The fight over the count mattered because the amendment lives or dies on the Section 9 threshold — and until Tuesday, Nigerians were being given three different numbers by three senior officials. The Clerk's verified 28 is the first figure in the process that comes from the office that received and checked the assemblies' own reports.
Background
Show the background timeline (7)
The Senate passes the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, providing for State Police Services.
The House of Representatives passes the bill.
The Clerk to the National Assembly transmits the bill to the 36 State Houses of Assembly, requesting their resolutions within 30 days.
The 30-day window elapses; the Clerk later says reports will continue to be accepted until transmission for assent.
Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, for the Presidential Working Group, announces 24 state approvals — the threshold met.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio (28 Oct) and Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (29 Oct, at NIPSS Kuru) each put approvals at about / no fewer than 30 states.
Clerk Kamoru Ogunlana confirms the verified count: 28 states — and says transmission to President Tinubu for assent is being prepared.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published in Checking state (queue #1227): the count conflict the queue flagged (28 / 30 / 32) is resolved by the Clerk to the National Assembly's Tuesday statement — 28 verified approvals — which this page treats as the primary source. Still open: the official list of approving states, the reason for the Senate leadership's higher figure, and the assent itself. Video check: no official National Assembly video of the Clerk's statement was verified on YouTube in this pass.