Insecurity: Reps vote on state police bill Thursday

The House of Representatives will on Thursday commence voting on a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police, in what lawmakers describe as a major legislative response to Nigeria’s worsening security crisis. The Deputy Speaker of the House and Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, Benjamin Kalu, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja. The move comes against the backdrop of rising incidents of kidnapping, terrorism, banditry and other violent crimes across several parts of the country, fueling renewed calls for the decentralisation of the nation’s policing architecture. The bill, sponsored by Kalu and 14 other lawmakers, passed second reading on February 20, 2024. It seeks to transfer policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List, thereby empowering states to establish and control their own police formations. To achieve this, the proposed legislation seeks amendments to Sections 197, 214 and 215, among others, of the 1999 Constitution. Explaining the rationale behind the move, Kalu said the responsibility of securing lives and property is not the exclusive preserve of the executive arm of government. “When we say that security of lives and property is a primary purpose of government, it is not only the executive that a particular section of the Constitution refers to? It concerns the three arms of government. While we call on them to order as a parliament and as allowed by Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the question is how do we do our part regarding the expectation of 88 and 89 as it concerns legislative functions?” he said. According to him, the legislature must deploy its constitutional powers to address the country’s security challenges. “We have always referred to the parliament, the House of Representatives, as the solution hub where hydra-headed problems of the country are presented and solutions given to them. “While we call on service chiefs to come and meet with us to dialogue and the Ministers of Finance and Budget Office, there is the need for us to use legislative tools to great effect,” he added. Kalu argued that the country’s centralised policing structure has not delivered the desired results in tackling insecurity. “We have discovered that leaving the law as it is will not give us the expectation that all Nigerians have placed in the expectation basket with regard to curing the issue of insecurity,” he stated. He said the House had resolved to prior