Reps Approves State Police Bill

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has taken a major step towards reshaping internal security after passing the State Police Bill in an overwhelming vote.

The House of Representatives has approved the proposed State Police Bill, signalling a significant move towards the decentralisation of Nigeria’s policing structure. Lawmakers gave strong backing to the legislation during Thursday’s plenary session, which was presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

A total of 289 members voted in support of the bill, reflecting broad consensus within the chamber. The session was dedicated to considering the legislation amid rising insecurity concerns across the country, including kidnappings, killings and repeated bandit attacks in several regions.

Tension briefly emerged during proceedings when Bashir Zubairu, a lawmaker from Kaduna State, raised a point of order. He argued that members had only just received the report from the House Committee on Constitution Review and had not been given enough time to properly examine its contents.

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Speaking on the floor, 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.”

Despite the objection, Speaker Abbas ruled him out of order and instructed that debate continue. As the bill was being presented, some lawmakers attempted further interruptions with additional points of order, but these were not entertained by the Speaker.

Before the vote, Abbas informed members that the electronic voting system was not operational. He explained that the outcome would instead be determined using attendance records.

Out of 290 lawmakers present, 289 voted in favour of establishing state police, while only one member opposed the proposal. The Speaker did not participate in the voting process.

The passage of the State Police Bill is widely seen as one of the most significant legislative steps in recent years towards reforming Nigeria’s security architecture.

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