The Senate, on Wednesday, expeditiously passed the State Police Bill which sought to move Nigeria from a unitary policing structure to a federal policing mode.
The passage of the bill followed its clause by clause consideration by the committee of the whole of the Senate.
The bill is entitled: “A bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for State Police and Related Matters, 2026”.
The report of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, shed light on the bill.
It indicates that the bill allows states to create their own police services, subject to national minimum standards, constitutional safeguards and federal oversight in defined exceptional circumstances.
“The bill represents one of the most significant institutional reforms proposed in the current constitutional review cycle.
“Its core objective is to move Nigeria from a unitary policing structure to a federal policing model that allows states to create their own police services.
“It is important to highlight that restructuring national security and policing frameworks is a key thematic area the committee has presented to Nigerians as a matter of serious national importance.
“This is in fulfilling its mandate to propose constitutional amendments that enhance national security and promote effective governance.”
Earlier, while presenting the lead debate, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the bill was an Executive Bill transmitted by President Bola Tinubu seeking to alter the Constitution to provide for the establishment of State Police Services and other related matters.
He said the bill represented one of the most significant constitutional reforms in the nation’s democratic evolution.
“It addresses a long-standing national conversation on the structure, effectiveness, responsiveness and sustainability of policing in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“It is common knowledge that Nigeria is a vast federation, comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory with diverse cultures, languages, geographical terrains, security dynamics and socio-economic conditions.
“The increasing complexity of security threats, which include terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal conflicts, farmer-herder clashes, cybercrime, organised criminal networks and other transnational crimes, have placed enormous pressure on the existing policing framework.”
In his remarks, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said “It is my prayer that Nigerians will become safer and that the challenges of kidnapping, banditry and terrorism will not only be minimised but reduced to the barest minimum.
“I am confident that Nigeria shall overcome terrorism and banditry and so shall it be”.
