The House of Representatives has approved the State Police Bill, a significant step towards decentralising Nigeria’s policing structure.
The bill received overwhelming support during plenary on Thursday, with 289 lawmakers voting in favour of its passage. The session was presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
The lower chamber dedicated its sitting to consideration of the proposed legislation amid growing security concerns across the country, including incidents of killings, kidnappings and banditry.
Proceedings were briefly disrupted when a lawmaker from Kaduna State, Bashir Zubairu, raised a point of order, arguing that members had not been given enough time to study the report submitted by the House Committee on Constitution Review.
Speaking after being recognised 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.”
However, Speaker Abbas ruled the objection out of order and directed that deliberations continue.
As the Speaker guided lawmakers through the provisions of the bill, some members repeatedly raised “Point of Order,” but their interventions were not entertained.
Before the voting process began, Abbas informed lawmakers that the electronic voting system was not functional and that voting would be determined using attendance records.
Out of the 290 lawmakers present, 289 voted in support of the establishment of state police, while only one member opposed the proposal. Speaker Abbas did not take part in the vote.
