A total of 311 members of the House of Representatives on Thursday voted for the passage of the state police establishment bill.

The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided over the committee of the whole, read out the names of those who voted for the passage.

According to him, “276 lawmakers voted physically while 35 voted virtually, bringing the number to 311, which formed a two/third majority.”

Mr Tajudeen, who described the bill as a panacea to Nigeria’s security challenges, said it would strengthen public safety and deepen federalism.

Earlier, the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of the Constitution Amendment Committee, Benjamin Kalu, said that the Bill would improve community policing.

Mr Kalu, who expressed confidence in the bill, said establishing a constitutional foundation for the country’s smooth administration was the lawmakers’ responsibility.

Also speaking, the minority leader, Constitution Amendment Committee, Benjamin Kalu, decried the speedy passage of the bill, saying the process violated Section 9, sub-section 2 of the Nigerian Constitution.

Mr Agbedi said the passage was supposed to have followed clause by clause rather than the hasty process.

The minority leader, who described the hasty passage as an affront on the rule of law, said that it was a negation of democratic principles.

According to him, we in the minority are not against the creation of state police, but we are against the hasty process.

Mr Agbedi said that the speedy process adopted by the Speaker in the passage of the Bill was not only an abuse of due process, but totally absurd.

Also speaking, the chairman of the minority caucus, Afam Ogene, said a constitution amendment required two-thirds participation of the members.

Mr Ogene said that the hasty passage was a total disregard of the laid-down rules and the Constitution as enshrined in Section 9, sub-section 2.

The state police bill is a landmark constitutional amendment in Nigeria that decentralises policing by moving it from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.

It creates a dual policing structure (federal and state) and establishes strict accountability measures.

The dual security structure permits state governments to establish, fund and run their own state police forces alongside the central Nigeria Police Force.

The bill also provides for leadership and appointment structure empowering state governors to appoint state police commissioners, subject to confirmation by the state House of Assembly and clearance by the National Police Council.

It also provides for an oversight body, creates an expanded National Police Council and mandates every state to set up a State Police Service Commission for recruitment and discipline.

Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria sets the rules for changing normal parts of the law.

It requires: a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of the National Assembly, and approval from at least two/thirds of all state Houses of Assembly.

(NAN)