A bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution to establish state police forces has successfully passed the second reading in the House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Onofiok Luke from Akwa Ibom state, the constitution alteration bill also seeks to give legal backing to security outfits established by states.
Currently, the powers to make laws on “police and other government security services established by law” is vested exclusively on the federal government.
But the proposed legislation seeks to move such powers from the exclusive list to the concurrent list, to empower “both the national assembly and houses of assembly of states to legislate on police and other security matters”.
