Insecurity: Reps vote on state police bill Thursday

Nigeria's House of Representatives is set to vote on a constitutional amendment bill that could establish state police forces, marking a significant legislative effort to address the nation's escalating security crisis. The vote, scheduled for Thursday, follows the bill's passage at the second reading in February and aims to decentralize the country's policing architecture.

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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.

Sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 14 other lawmakers, the bill proposes amending key sections of the 1999 Constitution to transfer policing powers from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List. This change would empower individual states to establish and manage their own police formations, a move proponents believe is crucial for more effective crime prevention and response.

Kalu explained that the responsibility for securing lives and property extends beyond the executive arm, involving all three branches of government. He stressed the legislature's role in deploying its constitutional powers to find solutions to the country's security challenges, describing parliament as a "solution hub." The current centralized policing system, he argued, has not yielded the desired results in combating widespread insecurity, including rising incidents of kidnapping, terrorism, and banditry.

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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.

The proposal has reportedly garnered significant support from key stakeholders, including the Presidency and state governors. Lawmakers believe that amending the constitution to allow for state police is a necessary step to improve security response times and address systemic gaps within the current policing framework. The House aims to use legislative tools to enhance the nation's security apparatus.

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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.