The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police, amid protests and a walkout by opposition lawmakers over the procedure adopted during consideration of the legislation.
Naija News reports that the bill, transmitted to the House by President Bola Tinubu on July 14, was approved during a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole, presided over by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
The House had earlier passed the proposed legislation on June 11 but later rescinded the decision to allow for further scrutiny.
Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, who moved the motion for the earlier decision to be withdrawn, had explained that fresh information emerged concerning provisions of the bill.
According to him, the development made it necessary for lawmakers to undertake a more critical examination of the legislation and ensure that its provisions were consistent with Nigeria’s national security architecture.
Moving the motion for consideration of the bill during Thursday’s plenary, the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Benjamin Kalu, described the proposed amendment as a major step towards tackling the country’s persistent security challenges.
Kalu commended Tinubu for forwarding the bill to the National Assembly, saying the President had long advocated decentralised policing, including during his tenure as governor of Lagos State.
He said the proposed amendment was designed to take policing closer to communities, strengthen intelligence gathering and improve collaboration among security agencies.
According to the deputy speaker, the reform would also give governments at different levels greater capacity to respond to changing security threats.
Kalu acknowledged that the legislation might not address every concern immediately, but maintained that constitutional reform was usually gradual.
He explained that the amendment would provide the constitutional foundation for state police, while subsequent laws would deal with recruitment, training, operational standards, accountability, oversight and coordination between federal and state security institutions.
He added that the President had already constituted a committee to work on an implementation framework.
“We must not allow the pursuit of perfection to become the enemy of meaningful progress,” Kalu said.
He urged lawmakers to support the amendment, which he described as a historic opportunity to strengthen Nigeria’s security framework and deepen federalism.
Before the Committee of the Whole began considering the bill, Abbas announced that 311 lawmakers had indicated support for the legislation.
According to the Speaker, the figure comprised 211 members of the All Progressives Congress, 65 opposition lawmakers and 35 members participating virtually.
However, controversy erupted shortly afterwards when the Minority Leader, Fred Agbedi, and other opposition lawmakers attempted to raise points of order.
Abbas did not recognise them and proceeded with consideration of the legislation.
After reading the first three clauses, the Speaker announced that the remaining provisions had been adopted.
The development prompted protests from opposition lawmakers, who argued that the outstanding clauses had neither been read nor separately considered before being approved.
They subsequently walked out of the chamber.
Opposition Faults Procedure
Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides that a constitutional amendment bill must secure the support of at least two-thirds of all members of each chamber of the National Assembly before it can be transmitted to state Houses of Assembly.
Speaking with journalists after the walkout, spokesman for the minority caucus, Afam Ogene, accused the House leadership of failing to comply with both constitutional requirements and the standing orders governing constitutional amendments.
Ogene argued that the number of lawmakers present for such proceedings should be established through the official attendance register signed by members on each legislative day, rather than through figures announced from the chair.
He maintained that the Constitution remained the supreme law from which the House standing orders derived their authority.
According to him, refusing to entertain constitutional points of order raised questions about the integrity of the process.
Ogene added that members of the minority caucus had prepared amendments to several provisions of the bill but were denied the opportunity to present them because the clauses were adopted without debate.
‘We Are Not Against State Police’
Agbedi also clarified that opposition lawmakers were not opposed to the establishment of state police.
He said their objection centred on the procedure followed by the House leadership.
The minority leader cited provisions of the House Standing Orders, which he said required every clause of a constitutional amendment bill to secure a two-thirds majority during consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
According to him, each clause should have been put to a separate vote, with the votes properly counted and recorded.
Agbedi also criticised Abbas for ruling him out of order without allowing him to state his objection.
He questioned how the House could claim to have met the constitutionally required voting threshold after a section of lawmakers had left the chamber.
The lawmaker argued that constitutional amendments should not be determined through voice votes because such a process does not provide an official record showing how individual lawmakers voted or whether the necessary majority was secured.
He said opposition lawmakers had planned to support the state police proposal but insisted that the House must follow constitutional requirements and allow members to move amendments during clause-by-clause consideration.
“We are not against state police. We are against the abuse of due process,” Agbedi said.
He warned that failure to comply with constitutional procedures could damage the credibility of the legislature and weaken democratic institutions.
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