The House of Representatives has passed the state police bill, effectively making way for the Nigerian police decentralisation architecture.
The resolution followed the House of Representatives voting where 289 lawmakers voted in favour of the decentralised framework during Thursday’s plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The House committed Thursday’s plenary to voting on the bill following the spike in killings, kidnappings, and banditry in the past few months.
Plenary Drama Marring the Constitutional Review Nigeria Process
The session was not without its fair share of drama, as shortly after the lawmakers settled down for the business of the day, Kaduna lawmaker, Bashir Zubairu, moved a point of order, explaining that the document on the proposed changes put together by the House Committee on constitutional review Nigeria got to the lawmakers only on Thursday afternoon.
State Police Bill: Lawmakers Force Progress on Nigerian Police Decentralisation
Recognised to speak by the speaker, 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, a member of the African Democratic Congress, was ruled out of order, allowing the process to proceed.
While the Speaker took members through the clauses of the state police bill, voices shouting “Point of Order” could be heard, but the presiding officer ignored them.
Before the voting began, Abbas announced that the electronic voting system was faulty, noting that the exercise would be conducted based on attendance. Out of the 290 members in attendance, 289 voted in favour of the state police bill while one voted against. The Speaker abstained from voting.
