The Senate on Wednesday passed the landmark Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish state police across the federation, marking a major step in Nigeria’s decades-long debate over decentralising the country’s policing structure to address worsening insecurity.
The passage followed a rigorous clause-by-clause consideration of the bill and came after more than two-thirds of senators voted in support through a manual voting process conducted on the floor of the chamber.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the passage of the legislation after lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the proposal during plenary.
The upper chamber approved the bill after considering the report of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, presented by Deputy Senate President and committee chairman, Barau Jibrin.
The bill’s provisions were first considered at the Committee of the Whole before lawmakers adopted them and proceeded to a final vote.
Debate on the legislation was led by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who urged senators to support what many lawmakers described as a critical reform aimed at strengthening internal security and improving response to local threats.
The legislation seeks to establish a state policing framework that would operate concurrently with the existing federal police system, effectively ending the exclusive control of policing by the Federal Government.
