The House of Representatives has approved the State Police Bill, marking a significant step toward decentralising Nigeria’s policing structure amid growing concerns over insecurity across the country.
The resolution was adopted during Thursday’s plenary session, presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, with 289 lawmakers voting in support of the proposal. One lawmaker voted against it, while the Speaker abstained from voting.
The House had dedicated the session to considering and voting on the bill following the recent rise in k+llings, kidn@ppings, and b@nditry in several parts of the country.
Proceedings were briefly disrupted when Kaduna lawmaker Bashir Zubairu raised an objection, arguing that members had only received the report prepared by the House Committee on Constitution Review earlier in the day and had not been given sufficient time to study its contents.
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Addressing the chamber, Zubairu said, “Mr Speaker, this document was only made available to lawmakers in the chambers, and we are yet to go through it. We cannot do justice to it because we have not gone through it.”
However, his objection was dismissed, allowing deliberations on the proposal to continue.
As lawmakers reviewed the clauses of the bill, some members repeatedly attempted to raise points of order, but the Speaker proceeded with the exercise.
Before voting commenced, Abbas informed members that the electronic voting system was not functioning properly and that voting would therefore be conducted based on attendance.
Out of the 290 lawmakers present, 289 voted in favour of the State Police Bill, while only one member opposed it.
The development brings Nigeria a step closer to adopting state-controlled police forces, a reform many supporters believe could improve local security responses and strengthen efforts to tackle crime across the country. Further legislative and constitutional processes are expected before the proposal can become law.
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