The Senate has defended the passage of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) (State Police) Bill, 2026, saying national security should take precedence over politics.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a constitutional amendment
bill seeking to establish state police across the country.
On Friday, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria
Democratic Congress (NDC), called for the implementation of state police to be
postponed until after the 2027 general election.
He warned that the proposed security structure could be
vulnerable to political manipulation if introduced without adequate safeguards.
Later that day, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, national chairman of the
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), said President Bola Tinubu’s administration
lacks the credibility to implement state police.
Speaking on Friday while featuring on Politics Today, a
Channels Television programme, Baba Ahmed said, “This is the worst possible
time” for the federal government to implement state police.
‘BILL UNDERWENT NATIONWIDE CONSULTATIONS’
In a statement issued on Sunday by Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate
leader, the upper chamber said the proposed legislation was “purely a child of
necessity and not of political expediency as well as a product of national
consensus and not of cynicism”.
Bamidele said the proposal to establish state police
addresses an urgent national security challenge that should not be delayed
because of political interests or individual ambitions.
The senator representing Ekiti Central said the process
leading to the passage of the bill did not begin recently.
He said the proposal formed part of memoranda submitted to
the senate ad hoc committee on the review of the 1999 constitution and was
subjected to extensive consultations because of its sensitive nature.
According to him, the national assembly consulted the
executive, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Conference of Speakers of State
Legislatures of Nigeria and the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force, among
other stakeholders.
Bamidele said the national assembly also conducted public
hearings across the six geopolitical zones in July 2025.
“At each level of our consultation, nearly all stakeholders
embraced the State Police Bill in the light of stark realities we are facing
today,” he said.
He said the recommendations of the Nigeria Police helped
lawmakers develop accountability and oversight mechanisms to guard against the
abuse of state police by political actors.
“The resolve of the Nigeria Police to support the Bill
obviously highlights its strategic national significance to deal with
insecurity at local and state levels,” he said.
Bamidele added that the proposal was subjected to extensive
debate in both chambers of the national assembly before it was passed.
“Even though the APC is the majority, there are members of
opposition parties – PDP, ADC, NDC and Labour Party – that exercised their
discretion in favour of the Bill, mainly in the national interest and not on
parochial basis,” he said.
“In the Senate, for instance, 84 out of 109 members voted
clause by clause in support of the Bill. This accounted for 77.06% approval at
the Senate alone.”
‘NATIONAL SECURITY SHOULD TRANSCEND PARTISANSHIP’
Bamidele said security should not be reduced to partisan
politics because it benefits all Nigerians regardless of ethnicity, religion or
political affiliation.
“Political actors elsewhere always throw off their togas of
partisanship and parochialism to support initiatives that will boost and
reinforce national security,” he said.
He urged opposition parties to contribute ideas that would
strengthen peace and stability in the country instead of focusing on criticism.
“Even when they disagree on some grounds, they are under
obligations to provide credible and useful ideas that can make our Nation
better and greater. Unfortunately, they have not passed this critical test of
opposition democracy,” he added.
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