The bill which seeks to establish State Police scaled through second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The passage of the bill which was sponsored by Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader came barely 24 hours after passing resolution on recent genocide killings in Plateau State.
According to him, the bill seeks to “Alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria CAP. C 23 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 to delete item 45 from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List and other matters related thereto.”
The explanatory memorandum of the bill further provides for removal of “item 45 from the exclusive legislative list, grant the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly the power to make laws with respect to the creation, formation and control of Police and other Government security services in Nigeria.”
In his lead debate, Gbajabiamila explained that Section 214(1) of the Principal Act is hereby amended in line 2 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’.
The bill also seeks to amend Principal Act with the view to creating new sections 215 and 216 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 organized 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 maybe conferred upon them by law.”
He also emphasised the need to amend section 218(1a) which provides that: “There shall be 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.
Subsection 218(1b) also provides for “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 authorize 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 direction or cause them to be compiled with”.
The bill in section 219(1) further provides that the “State House of Assembly may make laws for the further regulation and control of the State Police.”
According to him, “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 Principal Act is hereby amended by creating new sections 21 in part 2 of the second schedule as follows:
Section 21(1) entitled: Police and other Government Security Services further provides that 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; (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 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.
