KEY POINTS

• The House of Representatives passed the State Police Bill with 289 lawmakers voting in favour and one voting against.
• The bill seeks to decentralise Nigeria’s policing system and allow states to establish their own police forces.
• The proposal must still be approved by the Senate, state assemblies and the President before becoming law.

The House of Representatives has passed the State Police Bill, marking a major step toward decentralising Nigeria’s policing structure and granting states the power to establish and manage their own police forces.

The bill secured overwhelming support during Thursday’s plenary session presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, with 289 lawmakers voting in favour and only one member opposing the proposal.

The lower chamber approved the bill after months of growing calls for a new security framework to tackle the worsening cases of killings, kidnappings and bandit attacks across the country.

The proposal seeks to amend the constitution to allow individual states to establish police services that would complement the Nigeria Police Force. Advocates of the bill have long argued that a centralised policing system has proven inadequate in addressing security challenges in various parts of the country.

During the session, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas announced that the House would proceed with voting on the bill, describing it as one of the key constitutional amendment proposals before the parliament.

Out of the 290 members present at the plenary, 289 lawmakers voted in support of the measure, while one member voted against it. Abbas abstained from voting.

The passage represents one of the most significant constitutional reform efforts aimed at restructuring the country’s security architecture.

Drama as Lawmaker Objects to Process

The session witnessed a brief controversy after Bashir Zubairu, a lawmaker from Kaduna State and a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), raised a point of order.

Zubairu complained that members had only received copies of the committee’s report on the state police proposal shortly before the commencement of plenary and had not been given sufficient time to study the document.

He argued that lawmakers could not effectively debate or make informed decisions on a proposal they had barely reviewed.

However, Speaker Abbas ruled him out of order and allowed proceedings to continue.

As deliberations progressed, some lawmakers attempted to raise additional points of order, but the presiding officer ignored the interruptions and proceeded with the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill.

Before the voting exercise began, the Speaker informed members that the electronic voting system was not functioning.

As a result, the House adopted a manual voting process based on the attendance register.

Despite the technical challenge, the voting exercise proceeded smoothly, with nearly all members present backing the proposal.

The overwhelming support underscored the growing consensus among lawmakers that Nigeria requires alternative approaches to address its security challenges.

The passage of the bill comes amid increasing concerns over insecurity across the country.

Nigeria has experienced a surge in bandit attacks, kidnappings, communal violence and terrorist activities in recent months, prompting renewed calls for state-controlled policing.

Supporters of state police argue that locally managed security agencies would possess better knowledge of their environments and respond more effectively to threats.

They also believe state police would strengthen intelligence gathering and improve coordination with local communities.

However, critics have expressed concerns that governors could misuse state police for political purposes or suppress opposition voices.