The Kwara State House of Assembly has voted in favour of the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution seeking to create a legal basis for the establishment of state police in the country.
Naija News reports that the lawmakers gave the approval during plenary on Tuesday, after the Speaker, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, read a letter from the Clerk of the National Assembly on the proposed alteration.
This was disclosed in a statement issued in Ilorin by the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Abdulkadir Yusuf.
According to the statement, the House Leader, Mogaji Oba Abdulkadri, who led the debate on the bill, highlighted the many benefits the amendment would bring to policing in the country.
“The Kwara State House of Assembly has approved the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution to provide a legal framework for the establishment of state police,” the statement read.
Other lawmakers who contributed to the debate said the amendment would bring policing closer to the grassroots and improve the protection of lives and property across the country.
At the end of deliberations, the Speaker directed the Clerk of the House, Alhaji Ahmed Olayiwola, to transmit the Assembly’s resolution to the National Assembly for further action.
The approval comes amid ongoing moves to amend the Constitution to allow states to set up their own police alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
The National Assembly had earlier transmitted the proposed amendment to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for their input.
By the provisions of Section 9(2) of the Constitution, at least 24 state Assemblies must endorse a constitutional alteration before it can move to the next stage.
Advocates of state police argue that decentralising the force would enhance intelligence gathering and allow quicker response to local security challenges such as kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes.
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