Reps Approve Bill to Establish State Police

The House of Representatives on Thursday, June 11, passed the state police bill, paving the way for the decentralisation of Nigeria’s police system.

The decision came after 289 lawmakers voted in favour of state police during Thursday’s session, which was led by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

The House scheduled Thursday’s vote on the State Police Bill in response to a recent rise in killings, kidnappings, and banditry.

The session saw some drama soon after lawmakers began their work. Bashir Zubairu, a lawmaker from Kaduna, raised a point of order and explained that the document on the proposed state police, prepared by the House Committee on Constitution Review, was only given to lawmakers on Thursday afternoon.

After being allowed to speak, 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.”

Zubairu, who belongs to the African Democratic Congress, was ruled out of order, so the process continued.

As the Speaker went through the clauses, some members called out “Point of Order,” but the presiding officer did not respond.