- Reps Approve State Police Bill as 289 Lawmakers Vote in Support
- Only One Lawmaker Opposes State Police Bill as Reps Vote
- Zubairu argued that members had only received the report of the House Committee on Constitution Review earlier in the day and had not been given sufficient time to study its contents
The House of Representatives on Thursday approved the State Police Bill, taking a significant step toward the decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing system.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the proposal received overwhelming support during plenary, with 289 lawmakers voting in favour of its adoption. The session was presided over by Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas.
EDITOR’S PICK
- Hamzat Appoints Obanikoro as Campaign DG Ahead of 2027 Lagos Governorship Race
- Tinubu’s State Police Plan Gains Momentum as Amendment Looms
- Residents Raise Alarm After Two Bodies Found in Lagos Waterway
The lower chamber dedicated Thursday’s sitting to deliberations on the bill against the backdrop of growing security challenges across the country, including kidnappings, killings, banditry, and other violent crimes.
Proceedings briefly witnessed a disagreement when a lawmaker representing Kaduna State, Bashir Zubairu, raised a point of order.
Zubairu argued that members had only received the report of the House Committee on Constitution Review earlier in the day and had not been given sufficient time to study its contents.
“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,” he said.
However, Speaker Abbas ruled the objection out of order and directed that proceedings continue.
As lawmakers considered the bill’s provisions, some members attempted to raise additional points of order, but the Speaker declined to entertain further interruptions.
Before the voting process commenced, Abbas informed the House that the electronic voting system was not operational and that voting would be conducted based on attendance records.
At the end of the exercise, 289 of the 290 lawmakers present voted in support of the State Police Bill, while only one member voted against it.
Speaker Abbas did not participate in the voting process.
The approval marks a major milestone in ongoing constitutional reform efforts aimed at addressing Nigeria’s security challenges through a more decentralised policing structure.
