BREAKING: Reps approve constitutional amendment for creation of state police

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police in Nigeria.

The proposal secured overwhelming support during plenary presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, with 289 lawmakers voting in favour of the bill. Only one member voted against it, while the speaker abstained from voting.

The House had earlier resolved to prioritise consideration of the state police bill amid growing concerns over insecurity, including rising incidents of kidnapping, banditry and violent attacks across the country.

Proceedings witnessed a brief disagreement when a member representing Kaduna State, Bashir Zubairu, raised a point of order, arguing that lawmakers had only received copies of the constitutional review document on Thursday and needed more time to study it.

Zubairu maintained that members could not adequately consider the proposal without first reviewing its contents, but the speaker ruled him out of order and allowed the process to continue.

During the session, Abbas informed lawmakers that the electronic voting system was unavailable, prompting the House to conduct the voting exercise based on attendance records.