The Anambra State House of Assembly has approved a bill seeking to amend relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police services.

The bill scaled the first, second and third readings during plenary in Awka on Tuesday, marking a significant step towards creating a constitutional framework for decentralised policing in Nigeria.

The executive bill, which originated from the Presidency, seeks to provide a legal pathway for states to establish their own police services, subject to constitutional provisions and an Act of the National Assembly prescribing minimum national policing standards.

Under the proposed framework, the Nigeria Police Force would remain the default policing institution in any state until a state police service is lawfully established and certified operational.

The bill also preserves the federal government’s policing responsibilities across all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

It further provides constitutional safeguards covering civilian oversight, human rights protection, national policing standards, independent police service commissions, intergovernmental cooperation, criminal information systems and firearms control.

The proposed legislation also makes provision for exceptional federal intervention in state policing in cases involving institutional breakdown, serious incapacity, threats to national security or grave abuses.

However, the bill leaves the detailed arrangements for the organisation, operational control, certification, complaints mechanisms, grants and implementation of state police services to subsequent legislation by the National Assembly and, where applicable, state Houses of Assembly.

The proposed constitutional amendment is part of ongoing efforts to establish a legal framework for state policing, a long-standing subject of national debate over security management and the decentralisation of law enforcement in Nigeria.