State Police: Constitution not amended by convenience — ADC tells Reps

Nigeria's House of Representatives is facing accusations of undermining the nation's constitution from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) over its handling of the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill. The opposition party insists that "the Constitution is not amended by convenience" and is calling for the legislation to be recommitted to a fresh, transparent, and inclusive legislative process.

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The Constitution is not amended by convenience. It is amended through strict procedures that leave no room for improvisation.

While the ADC backs the creation of state police as a measure to combat Nigeria's worsening insecurity, it argues that no constitutional reform, however well-intentioned, should compromise the constitutional process itself. The party questioned reports that the constitutional threshold for passing the amendment was met by recognizing votes transmitted via WhatsApp from absent lawmakers and by counting members who had signed the attendance register but were no longer present when the vote was called.

"It is amended through strict procedures that leave no room for improvisation," the ADC declared in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi. The party expressed concern that meaningful clause-by-clause consideration of the bill was curtailed and that constitutional objections raised during deliberations were not properly addressed. The ADC maintained that constitutional alteration demands openness, robust debate, and strict fidelity to both the Constitution and the House's Standing Orders, standards they claim were not observed in the handling of the State Police Bill.

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While the idea of State Police has featured in previous constitutional review exercises, this latest effort contains significant policy reform that Nigerians have not had the opportunity to interrogate through a dedicated public process.

Furthermore, the ADC argued that the current version of the legislation has not undergone sufficient public scrutiny for a constitutional reform that would fundamentally reshape Nigeria's security architecture. "Nigerians have not had the opportunity to interrogate through a dedicated public process" the significant policy reforms contained in this latest effort, Abdullahi said. The party emphasized that the objective should be to create a framework capable of addressing the insecurity that has devastated communities, rather than merely establishing another policing institution for political expediency.

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It is one thing to pass a Bill for political expediency. It is another thing to ensure that it actually solves the problem it was intended to solve. The objective is not merely to establish another police institution. It is to reduce the insecurity that has devastated communities across the country.