The proposed constitutional amendment to establish state police has received the backing of the Ekiti and Kebbi State Houses of Assembly, bringing the number of states supporting the initiative to 15.

Before the latest endorsements, 13 states, including Osun, Edo, Oyo, Rivers, Zamfara, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Delta, Taraba, Cross River, Plateau and Enugu, had supported the proposed amendment.

In Kebbi State, 20 lawmakers endorsed the proposal during Wednesday’s plenary presided over by the Speaker, Salihu Dangoje. The resolution followed deliberations on the proposal presented by the Chairman of the House Committee on Internal Security, Muhammad Garba Bena.

Bena said the proposed state police system would strengthen security operations, improve responses to threats and protect lives and property. He added that the arrangement would empower state governments to establish their own police services and recruit personnel in line with the law.

In Ekiti State, the House of Assembly passed the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, with all 21 members present supporting it.

The Speaker, Adeoye Aribasoye, subsequently directed the Clerk of the House to transmit the bill to the National Assembly alongside the observations made by the legislature.

Aribasoye said the establishment of state police had remained a subject of national discussion for more than two decades, adding that decentralised policing could improve response to distress calls and bring law enforcement closer to communities.

The proposed amendment requires the support of at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state Houses of Assembly to meet the two-thirds majority threshold.

With 15 states now backing the initiative, nine more states must support it for the requirement to be met.