Reps to vote on state police bill on Thursday
The House of Representatives will on Thursday vote on a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police across the country.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, Deputy Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, Benjamin Kalu, urged lawmakers to attend plenary and participate in what he described as a critical vote on the nation’s security architecture.
Under the current constitutional arrangement, policing and other government security services are under the exclusive control of the Federal Government. However, the proposed amendment seeks to transfer powers relating to policing and security matters from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby empowering both the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly to legislate on police and related security issues.
Kalu, who addressed the media alongside members of the Constitution Amendment Committee, said the legislature must deploy constitutional and legislative mechanisms to tackle the country’s growing security challenges and bridge existing gaps in the security framework.
According to him, while the National Assembly will continue to engage security chiefs on strategies to curb insecurity, lawmakers have resolved to prioritise constitutional reforms that will strengthen security operations, particularly through the establishment of state police.
He noted that extensive work had already been carried out on the proposed amendment and expressed optimism that state policing would significantly improve response times to security threats across the federation.
“Hope is coming. By tomorrow, we will be amending the Constitution by prioritising state police. We will vote on state police. Nobody is stopping it,” Kalu declared.
The renewed push for state police comes amid rising incidents of insecurity in several parts of the country, including killings, kidnappings and bandit attacks.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives summoned the service chiefs and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to appear before lawmakers over the worsening security situation nationwide.
Similarly, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had in December expressed confidence that the establishment of state police would strengthen internal security and improve the country’s capacity to combat crime.
For the constitutional amendment to become law, it must secure the support of a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the National Assembly — at least 73 senators and 240 members of the House of Representatives.
It must also be approved by a simple majority in at least 24 of the 36 state Houses of Assembly before it can be assented to.