A total of 311 members of the House of Representatives on Thursday voted for the passage of the State Police Establishment Bill at plenary.
The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the Committee of the Whole, read out the names of those that voted for the passage.
According to him, “276 lawmakers voted physically while 35 voted virtually making bringing the number to 311 which formed a two/third majority.”
Mr Tajudeen, who described the Bill as a panacea to Nigeria’s security challenges, said it “would strengthen public safety and deepen federalism.”
Earlier, the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Constitution Amendment Committee, Rep. Benjamin Kalu, said that the Bill “would improve community policing.”
Mr Kalu expressed confidence in the Bill, saying that “it was the responsibility of the lawmakers to establish a constitutional foundation for smooth administration of the country.”
However, the Minority Leader, Rep. Fred Agbedi, decried the speedy passage, saying the process “violated Section 9 sub-section 2 of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Agbedi said “the passage supposed to have followed clause by clause rather than the hasty process.”
He described the hasty passage as “an affront on the rule of law” and “a negation of democratic principles.”
According to him, “we in the minority are not against the creation of state police, but we are against the hasty process.”
Agbedi added that “the speedy process adopted by the Speaker in the passage of the Bill was not only an abuse of due process, but totally absurd.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Minority Caucus, Rep. Afam Ogene, said that “constitution amendment required two-third participation of the members.”
Ogene said “the hasty passage was a total disregard of the laid down rules and the Constitution as enshrined in Section 9 sub-section 2.”
NAN reports that the State Police Bill is “a landmark constitutional amendment in Nigeria that decentralises policing by moving it from the Exclusive Legislative list to the Concurrent Legislative list.”
It creates “a dual policing structure (Federal and State) and establishes strict accountability measures.”
*Core Provisions and Structure*
The dual security structure permits state governments “to establish, fund and run their own state police forces alongside the central Nigeria Police Force.”
The bill also provides for leadership and appointment structure “empowering state governors to appoint state police commissioners, subject to confirmation by the State House of Assembly and clearance by the National Police Council.”
It further provides for “an expanded National Police Council and mandates every state to set up a State Police Service Commission for recruitment and discipline.”
*Safeguards and Federal Intervention*
Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria sets the rules for changing normal parts of the law. It requires: “a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the National Assembly, and approval from at least two/thirds of all State Houses of Assembly.”