The proposed constitutional amendment to establish a dual policing system in Nigeria has secured approval from 24 State Houses of Assembly, meeting the two-thirds threshold required for constitutional alteration.

The Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, October 23, 2026.

The statement said the approval of 24 of the 36 state assemblies met the constitutional requirement for the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, which provides for a dual policing system.

The Working Group commended the state assemblies for their action and the National Assembly for passing the amendment in both chambers.

“In line with Section 9 of the Constitution, the amendment can now be returned to the National Assembly for transmission to Mr President for assent,” the statement read.

The proposed amendment is expected to provide constitutional backing for the policing framework contained in the draft National Policing Bill, 2026, prepared by the Presidential Working Group.

October 30 timeline

The group said the draft bills were undergoing legislative drafting review and validation at the Federal Ministry of Justice and were expected to be returned on or before Friday, October 30, 2026.

It added that the group would give the bills final consideration before presenting them to President Bola Tinubu.

The Working Group urged stakeholders to support what it described as a smooth transition to a dual policing system aimed at making Nigerians safer.

PUNCH had reported in September that the National Assembly transmitted the Constitution (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, to the 36 state Houses of Assembly on September 16 for consideration and approval, giving them an expected administrative timeframe of 30 days to communicate their decisions.

The proposed amendment seeks to establish a dual policing system comprising the Federal Police Service and state police services.

However, in a report published on October 16, PUNCH said five state assemblies — Edo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and Zamfara — had approved the amendment, while the remaining 31 were yet to do so.

Meanwhile, PUNCH reported on October 15 that the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, had said the draft National Policing Bill was 90 per cent ready for transmission to the National Assembly after further deliberations by the Presidential Working Group.

On October 21, PUNCH reported that five additional state assemblies — Ogun, Delta, Plateau, Kwara and Adamawa — had approved the amendment, bringing the number of approving states to 10.

One person has died while three others sustained injuries following the collapse of a building in the Fadeyi area of Lagos State.

The building collapsed on Akinola Street, off Ikorodu Road, on Friday morning.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said the cause of the incident was yet to be established, while rescue teams were working to determine how many site workers remained trapped beneath the rubble, Channels TV reports.

The agency said, “Emergency responders had launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation to locate and evacuate any victims trapped under the collapsed structure.”

LASEMA added that it was coordinating the response at the scene alongside other agencies and emergency personnel, including LRU paramedics, the Lagos State Fire Service, LASASA and the Alakara Division of the Nigeria Police Force.

Details later…

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has described the South-East’s overwhelming support for Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election as an “accident of history”, attributing the voting pattern to anger over the region’s alleged marginalisation under the previous administration.

Umahi said the region’s political outlook had changed under President Bola Tinubu, citing federal infrastructure projects and appointments as reasons he believed voters would respond differently in the 2027 election.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE News published on Friday, the minister said the South-East had reasons to feel aggrieved before Tinubu assumed office.

“In 2023, it was an accident of history,” Umahi continued, “It was a demonstration of the anger of the people of South East on how they were treated.”

He added, “We’ve been marginalised in the past, but it’s no longer so.”

Umahi argued that Tinubu had changed the situation through what he described as increased federal infrastructure investments and appointments for the region.

“If in 2023 they demonstrated their anger, in 2027 they are going to demonstrate their joy on how the President has treated them,” he said.

The former Ebonyi State governor maintained that the South-East would acknowledge Tinubu’s commitment to the region, particularly through major federal road projects and other investments.

He also said serving and former governors, traditional rulers and other influential figures in the South-East were increasingly aligning with Tinubu.

Umahi argued that voters would be reluctant to abandon what he described as infrastructure gains for another political “gamble”.

The minister rejected suggestions that South-East leaders supporting Tinubu were betraying the region or Obi, arguing that the region’s political interests should not be permanently tied to one candidate.

He also criticised social media supporters who insult South-East political leaders for backing Tinubu, saying such attacks would not advance Obi’s political interests or those of the region.

Umahi maintained that the South-East needed to engage and negotiate with other parts of Nigeria if it hoped to produce a president in the future.

Asked whether he believed Tinubu would defeat Obi in the South-East in 2027, Umahi responded, “Why do you say I believe? That is what is going to happen!”

The minister insisted that the circumstances that shaped the region’s voting pattern in 2023 had fundamentally changed.