State police is product of national consensus, not cynicism – Bamidele

The Senate has strongly defended the passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, noting that the legislative initiative “is purely a child of necessity and not of political expediency as well as a product of national consensus and not of cynicism.”

The upper chamber, also, noted that the proposal to create state police was one of urgent public importance, which could not and should not take a back seat because of anyone’s political aspirations in the light of stark realities currently facing the country.

Opeyemi Bamidele, leader of the Senate, made the remarks in a statement released by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs Sunday, highlighting that the process of accommodating state police in the country’s governance structure did not start recently.

Despite some dissenting views, Bamidele said that observations had shown that Nigerians largely welcome the passage of the Bill with a conviction that it would significantly de-escalate the country’s security conditions at the subnational level.

He explained that the state police proposal was part of memoranda submitted to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, saying the memorandum had been subjected to rigorous process and multi-tiered consultation across the federation due its sensitive nature.

Bamidele observed that during the process, the National Assembly broadly consulted the Executive, Nigerian Governors Forum, Conference of Speakers of the State Legislatures of Nigeria and the leadership of the Nigeria Police, among others.

According to him, in July 2025, the National Assembly conducted public hearings in all the geo-political zones, and the participants overwhelmingly approved it.

He also noted that “at each level of our consultation, nearly all stakeholders embraced the State Police Bill in the light of stark realities we are facing today.”

He explained the contributions of the Nigeria Police to the process of the enacting the constitution alteration bill, which according to him, formed part of the highly vital recommendations that could help the National Assembly develop accountability and oversight mechanisms that would prevent the abuse of state police by some political actors.

The Senate leader added that the resolve of the Nigeria Police “to support the Bill obviously highlights its strategic national significance to deal with insecurity at local and state levels.”

Beyond the input of the Nigeria Police, Bamidele further explained how the consideration of the State Police Bill was subjected to intense debates at the Senate and House of Representatives.

He said: “Even though the APC is the majority, there are members of opposition parties – PDP, ADC, NDC and Labour Party – that exercised their discretion in favour of the Bill, mainly in the national interest and not on parochial basis.

“In the Senate, for instance, 84 out of 109 members voted clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06% approval at the Senate alone,” he disclosed.

Bamidele cited that globally, security “is a collective public good that benefits citizenry across ethnic, political and religious divides. Political actors elsewhere always throw off their togas of partisanship and parochialism to support initiatives that will boost and reinforce national security.”

At this challenging time, Bamidele observed that opposition parties and leaders should come forward with ideas that would deepen the peace and stability of the federation.

Even when they disagree on some grounds, according to him, they are under obligations to provide credible and useful ideas that can make our nation better and greater.

“Unfortunately, they have not passed this critical test of opposition democracy,” he said.