A bill seeking to establish state police has been rejected
by the house of representatives committee on constitution amendment.
The bill which is sponsored by Onofiok Luke, lawmaker from
Akwa Ibom, had passed second reading at the lower legislative chamber in July
2021.
Currently, the central authority on “ the police and other
government security services established by law” is the federal government.
But the legislation sought to move such powers in section
214 (c) from the exclusive list to the concurrent list, to empower “both the
national assembly and houses of assembly of states to legislate on police and
other security matters”.
At its sitting on Wednesday, 14 legislators voted against
the amendment while 11 lawmakers voted in favour.
Idris Wase, deputy speaker of the house who is the chairman
of the committee, had put the bill to voting after Fred Agbedi, lawmaker from
Bayelsa, raised a motion that the bill be voted on.
Speaking against the bill, Muhammed Wudil, legislator from
Kano, said: “There are lots of things as regards the creation of state police.
There is a lot of apprehension, most especially the nature of the country now;
we are almost — in some cases divided and any governor can decide to take out
whatever security measures against political opponents.”
Following the outcome of the vote, it means the bill will
not be subjected to any further legislative work.
The development comes weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari
ruled out state police as an option to address the country’s security
challenges.
This is despite the fact that in recent times the demand for
state police has heightened in many parts of the country, owing to the
escalating insecurity.
Governors in the country’s southern states have emphasised
the need for state police as against the federal government’s current policing
model.
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