BREAKING: Rep pass Executive Bill on State Police

The House of Representatives has passed President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Bill seeking to establish state police, marking another major step toward Nigeria’s adoption of a decentralised policing system.

The bill was approved during Thursday’s plenary after lawmakers withdrew an earlier constitutional amendment proposal on state police and opted to adopt the Executive Bill instead.

Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, announced the decision after the chamber considered and adopted the report of the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.

The legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Establishment of State Police Services and for Related Matters (HB. 2797),” seeks to amend the Constitution to allow state-controlled police services to operate alongside the Nigeria Police Force.

The development comes after the Senate also passed its version of the bill, bringing Nigeria a step closer to adopting a dual policing system aimed at tackling banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other security challenges across the country.

Earlier, President Tinubu transmitted the Executive Bill to the National Assembly, explaining that it builds on previous legislative efforts while introducing additional safeguards to ensure an effective, accountable and well-regulated policing structure.

Following the President’s submission, the House rescinded its June 11 resolution on state police and dissolved the 12-member conference committee that had been set up to harmonise earlier proposals, choosing instead to proceed with the executive-backed legislation.

Despite its passage by both chambers of the National Assembly, the proposed constitutional amendment must still be approved by at least two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly before it can be transmitted to the President for assent and become law.