The House of Representatives has passed a bill to establish state police in Nigeria, moving the country a major step closer to overhauling its security architecture.
The bill, titled HB 617, was approved Thursday by a voice vote during plenary in Abuja. Speaker Abbas Tajudeen presided over the session, which had over 290 lawmakers in attendance.
House Leader Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo) moved a motion to suspend rules so the House could consider a motion on rescinding an earlier decision related to the Constitution Review Committee's report. Minority Leader Fred Agbedi (PDP, Bayelsa) seconded the motion, and it was adopted.
The House then focused solely on the security amendment. Tajudeen said the House would prioritise only that part at this stage, calling it urgent and necessary. He added that lawmakers were about to go on a two-week end-of-year recess and needed time to study other amendment bills.
Midway through, the electronic voting system failed, forcing a manual voice vote. The Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who chairs the Constitution Review Committee, presented the bill as a direct response to Nigeria's worsening security challenges — terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other violent crimes.
Kalu argued that Nigeria's centralised policing system, with command structures concentrated in Abuja, has slowed emergency response times. State police, he said, would allow officers familiar with local languages, geography, and communities to respond more effectively. He urged lawmakers to treat the bill as a legacy reform that reflects broad national consensus.
The speaker ruled that the House wouldn't consider the bill clause by clause but by its long title. He read out the title, and a manual count followed. At the end, 289 members supported the motion, four voted against it, and the bill was passed.
With the House's approval, the bill now moves to the Senate for concurrence. If the upper chamber passes it, the amendment will be transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly, where at least two-thirds must endorse it. After that, the president must assent before it becomes law.
The bill proposes amending Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution to provide for both a Federal Police and State Police. The National Assembly would define the structure, organisation, administration, and powers of the Federal Police and set minimum standards for state police services.
No state police force can begin operations unless established by a law passed by the relevant State House of Assembly and certified as meeting national minimum standards set by an Act of the National Assembly. Until a state police structure becomes operational, the Federal Police will continue to exercise policing powers in that state.
The bill restricts federal intervention in state security affairs to prevent interference. The Federal Police may only intervene in cases of a total breakdown of law and order, upon request by a state governor, or if a state police force can't function due to administrative, financial, or operational constraints.
The amendment also changes the appointment and command structure of the police, though those details remain to be clarified in the legislative process.
The House adjourned sittings until 7 July to allow lawmakers to proceed on their end-of-legislative-year break and return to their constituencies. Tajudeen said the break would also give members time to study the remaining constitution amendment bills.