{"id":32994,"date":"2026-06-12T09:09:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=32994"},"modified":"2026-06-12T09:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:09:49","slug":"house-of-representatives-passes-constitutional-amendment-on-policing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/house-of-representatives-passes-constitutional-amendment-on-policing\/","title":{"rendered":"House of Representatives Passes Constitutional Amendment on Policing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Nigeria\u2019s National Assembly advanced a landmark constitutional amendment Thursday that could allow states to establish their own police forces, a move supporters say is critical to addressing worsening insecurity across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House of Representatives passed the bill with near unanimous support: 289 members voted in favor, one opposed, and none abstained. Attendance was verified at 290 lawmakers, meeting the constitutional requirement for a two thirds quorum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and 14 colleagues, seeks to shift policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, giving states authority to create and control police formations. It amends key sections of the 1999 Constitution, including 197, 214 and 215, and contains 18 clauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas hailed the vote as a decisive step toward a policing system \u201cmore responsive to local realities while remaining firmly anchored within the unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The session was not without drama. Bashir Zubairu Usman, a lawmaker from Kaduna State, protested that members had only received the amendment document on the day of voting, arguing they had not had time to study it. Abbas ruled him out of order, and the majority pressed ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria has long struggled with insecurity, from Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast to banditry and kidnapping in central and northwestern states. Advocates of state police argue decentralization would allow local authorities to respond more effectively to community level threats. Critics warn of risks of politicization and misuse by state governors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, the move reflects Nigeria\u2019s effort to align with federal systems where subnational policing is common, such as in the United States, Canada and India. For Africa\u2019s most populous nation, the reform could reshape security governance and influence regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate is expected to consider the measure as part of the broader constitutional review process. If approved and signed into law, the bill would mark one of the most significant changes to Nigeria\u2019s security architecture since the return to democracy in 1999.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Nigeria\u2019s National Assembly advanced a landmark constitutional amendment Thursday that could allow states to establish their own police forces, a move supporters say is critical to addressing worsening insecurity across the country. The House of Representatives passed the bill with near unanimous support: 289 members voted in favor, one opposed, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":32997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2096,4,5,1138],"tags":[18885,18887,18889,18886,641,18882,18888,18883,18884],"class_list":["post-32994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-featured","category-international","category-politics","tag-1999-constitution-amendment","tag-concurrent-legislative-list","tag-decentralized-policing","tag-exclusive-legislative-list","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-nigeria-national-assembly","tag-security-challenges-nigeria","tag-senate-nigeria","tag-state-police-bill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_4977.jpeg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32999,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32994\/revisions\/32999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}