ADC Rejects House Passage Of State Police Bill

The African Democratic Congress has rejected the House of Representatives’ passage of the state police constitution amendment bill and asked lawmakers to restart the process.

The party said it supports the idea of state police as a response to Nigeria’s security problems, but argued that the amendment must pass through a transparent and constitutional procedure.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC alleged that the required threshold was reached by counting votes sent through WhatsApp by lawmakers who were not in the chamber, as well as members who had signed the attendance register but were no longer present during voting.

The party also complained that lawmakers did not give enough attention to clause-by-clause consideration of the bill or properly deal with constitutional objections raised during debate.

The reaction follows wider debate over the structure of state police. In an earlier report here, the Federal Government set a September 3 target for reviewing public input on the bill.

Sources: Punch, Daily Post