By Steve Oko, Vin Ujumadu, Chinedu Adonu & Jeff Agbodo
The various Houses of Assembly in the South-East have backed the Bill for State Police.
While Anambra , Enugu, Imo and Abia have passed the Bill, Ebonyi House of Assembly is at the verge of passing it into law.
The executive bill, which originated from the Presidency, was passed through the first, second and third readings during plenary on Tuesday.
The proposed framework allows states to establish their own police services, subject to constitutional provisions and national policing standards prescribed by the National Assembly.
Presiding over the plenary, Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Somtochukwu Udeze, directed the Clerk to transmit the resolution to the National Assembly.
The Majority Leader, Ikenna Ofodeme, said state police would strengthen grassroots security, facilitate quicker responses to threats, create jobs and reduce the military’s involvement in internal security operations.
He also proposed integrating local vigilantes into the state policing system after appropriate training.
Throwing their weight behind the Bill, the Enugu State House of Assembly, said decentralising the country’s policing architecture would improve security and strengthen the protection of lives and property.
The lawmakers expressed their positions on Tuesday, November 20 during plenary while considering a proposed constitutional amendment to provide for the establishment of State Police Service and related matters.
Supporting the proposal, the member representing Ezeagu Constituency, Hon. Chima Obieze, said the establishment of state police would make policing more effective by bringing security operations closer to the people.
According to him: “The establishment of State Police will decentralise the policing architecture of the country and make it more effective in the protection of lives and property across the state.”
Similarly, the member representing Nkanu East Constituency, Hon. Okey Mbah, said state police could help tackle recurring security challenges, including violence and attacks attributed to herders in different parts of the state.
Mbah maintained that a decentralised policing system would enable authorities to respond more effectively to security threats within their respective communities.
He said the establishment of state police would help “curtail incessant violence and herdsmen attacks in different parts of the state.”
However, the member representing Igbo-Eze South Constituency, Hon. Harrison Ogara, cautioned that the proposed state police system could be abused by political officeholders if adequate safeguards were not established.
Ogara expressed concern that state police formations might be used to intimidate political opponents, stressing that effective oversight and accountability mechanisms were necessary to protect the institution from political interference.
He said: “State Police formations could be used to intimidate political opponents if adequate safeguards are not put in place.”
The lawmaker also called for professional standards, transparent accountability structures and sustainable funding arrangements to ensure that state police personnel discharge their duties without undue political influence.
According to him, effective oversight would be essential to ensuring that the proposed security structure serves the public interest rather than the interests of those in power.
The Speaker of the House, Chief Uche Ugwu, said the proposed changes to the naming of Nigeria’s policing institutions could also influence institutional orientation and the attitudes of personnel.
The proposal includes changing the name of the Nigeria Police Force to the Federal Police Service, alongside the establishment of the State Police Service.
Ugwu said the changes could contribute to a shift in institutional orientation and personnel attitudes, potentially improving the delivery of policing services.
The proposed constitutional amendment comes amid growing calls for the decentralisation of Nigeria’s security architecture to enable states to respond more effectively to local security challenges.
Proponents argue that state police would improve intelligence gathering and response times, while critics have raised concerns about possible political abuse, inadequate funding and the need for strong accountability mechanisms.
Ebonyi to pass bill soon — Speaker
The Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Moses Ije Odunwa, has said the Assembly will soon pass the State Police Bill.
Odunwa disclosed that lawmakers had commenced deliberations on the bill and were close to completing the process, subject to necessary scrutiny.
He said the proposed legislation was aimed at strengthening the protection of lives and property in Ebonyi State and Nigeria at large.
The Speaker recalled that Ebonyi State had supported the establishment of state police during the National Assembly’s constitutional review engagement, where the state government and Assembly made submissions in favour of decentralised policing.
“We have started deliberating on the bill, and we are very close to its passage,” Odunwa said.
Similarly, the Deputy Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, Austin Nmeregini, told Vanguard on Thursday afternoon that the Abia lawmakers were at the verge of passing the Bill.
He disclosed that the Bill had already received the support of the lawmakers during their Executive session, hinting that they were proceeding into plenary where it will ultimately be passed into law.
He said that the passage of the Bill into law would help address peculiar security challenges of every state as every state better understands its own terrain more than strangers.
Later in the day, the Abia State House of Assembly voted in favour of the State Police Bill.
The Acting Clerk Abia State House of Assembly, Mr Promise confirmed this in an interview with Vanguard.
Speaking later with Vanguard, Deputy Speaker Nmeregini, said that the State Police Bill was passed by “unanimous vote.”
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