Anambra Assembly Passes Bill Backing State Police, Sends Resolution To National Assembly

By Goodness Ndukuba, Awka

The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow for the creation of state police in Nigeria.

Lawmakers adopted the measurements through first, second and third readings in a single plenary sitting in Awka on Tuesday.

The executive bill, which originated from the Presidency, aims to create a constitutional pathway for states to set up their own police services. Any such service would still need to meet minimum national standards set by an Act of the National Assembly.

Under the proposed framework, the Nigeria Police Force would continue as the policing body in any state until a state police service is properly established and certified as operational.

The Federal Government would retain its policing responsibilities across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The bill also includes provisions for civilian oversight, human rights protections, independent police service commissions, intergovernmental cooperation, shared criminal information systems and controls on firearms.

It further allows for limited federal intervention in cases of institutional breakdown, serious incapacity, threats to national security or grave abuses.

Speaker Somtochukwu Udeze, who presided over the session, said the House had discharged its constitutional duty and directed the Clerk to transmit the resolution to the National Assembly.

Majority Leader Ikenna Ofodeme described state police as necessary, arguing that many security challenges begin at the grassroots and that state authorities would be able to respond more quickly without waiting for instructions from the Inspector-General of Police.

He said the arrangement could also ease pressure on the military, create jobs for young people and allow properly trained local vigilantes to be integrated into community-level security.