State Police: Dogara Receives Bill Seeking To Amend The 1999 Constitution

Speaker Yakubu Dogara (File Photo

Bill Raised Requires Commissioner Of Police To Be Selected By Governors

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed a resolution to give their support for the establishment of state police. The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, received a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to accommodate state police.

The bill was transmitted to Dogara by the sponsor and Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.

Its key provision is to amend Section 214 (1) of the 1999 Constitution by deleting the phrase “and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof” immediately after the word “force.”

New sections 215 and 216 are also to be created by amending the existing sections 217 and 218 to spell out the structure and operations of the proposed state police.

The details of the bill are as follows: “217. (1) “There shall be a police force in each state of the Federation.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this constitution – (a) a state Police Force shall be organised and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an act of the State House of Assembly; (b) members of state Police shall have such powers and duties as may be conferred upon them by law.”

“218. (1) “There shall be – (a) a Commissioner of Police who shall be appointed by the governor on the advice of the State Police Council from among serving members of the State Police Force;

(b) a Head of Police for each state of the Local Government Area of the state to be appointed by the State Police Service Commission.

“(2) The State Police Force shall be under the command of the State Commissioner of Police.

“(3) The governor or such other commissioner of the government of the state as he may authorise in that behalf may give to the Commissioner of Police such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be compiled with.

“219. (1) Subject to the provisions of this constitution, the State House of Assembly may make laws for the further regulation and control of the State Police.

“The Principal Act is hereby amended by rearranging the existing sections 217 to 320 as sections 220 to 323.

“The Principal Act is hereby amended by deleting item 45 from the exclusive legislative list in part 1 of the second schedule of the constitution.

“That the entire items on the Exclusive Legislative List in part 1 of the second schedule of the constitution is hereby rearranged and renumbered as items 1 to 67 with the exclusion of the deleted item under this Bill.”

The bill also proposes to amend the constitution by creating a new section 21 in part 2 of the Second Schedule to give powers to state Houses of Assembly to create state police commands.

Section 21 reads, “(1) The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to- (a) Police force and other government security services in respect of anything pertaining to internal security and the maintenance of law and order in Nigeria; and (b) Regulation of ownership and control of Federal Police and other government security services.

“(2) A House of Assembly of a state may make laws with respect to: a. The creation, formation or/and establishment of Police Force and other security services in respect of any matter pertaining to internal security and the maintenance of law and order within that state and with regard to the enforcement of any law validly made by the House of Assembly of that state.

“b. Regulation of ownership and control of State Police and other state government’s security services.

“The Principal Act is hereby amended by renumbering the existing section 21 to 30 of part 2 of the second schedule of the constitution as numbers 22 to 31.

“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic on Nigeria (Alteration) Bill, 2018.”

The House, following established procedure, will gazette the bill for first reading this week.