The House of Representatives has approved the State Police Bill, marking a major step toward decentralising Nigeria’s policing structure amid growing concerns over insecurity across the country.
The resolution was adopted during Thursday’s plenary session presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, with 289 lawmakers voting in support of the proposal. One lawmaker voted against it, while the Speaker abstained from voting.
The House had dedicated the session to considering and voting on the bill following the recent rise in killings, kidnappings, and banditry in several parts of the country.
Proceedings were briefly disrupted when Kaduna lawmaker Bashir Zubairu raised an objection, arguing that members had only received the report prepared by the House Committee on Constitution Review earlier in the day and had not been given enough time to study its contents.
Addressing the chamber, Zubairu said the document was only made available to lawmakers inside the chamber and that members had not gone through it sufficiently to do justice to the proposal.
However, his objection was dismissed, allowing deliberations on the bill to continue.
As lawmakers reviewed the clauses, some members repeatedly attempted to raise points of order, but the Speaker proceeded with the exercise.
Before voting commenced, Abbas informed members that the electronic voting system was not functioning properly and that voting would instead be conducted based on attendance.
Out of the 290 lawmakers present, 289 voted in favour of the State Police Bill, while only one member opposed it.
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