The House of Representatives on Thursday passed the State Police Bill following a decisive vote during plenary.
Reports indicate that 289 lawmakers voted in support of the bill, while four opposed it, according to proceedings in the chamber. A total of 290 members were present for the day’s legislative session.
Earlier, the House resolved to adopt manual voting for the consideration of key legislative items after the electronic voting system was declared faulty.
The bill, which seeks to establish a state-level policing structure, remains one of the most closely watched security reform proposals before the National Assembly.
Shortly after proceedings commenced, a lawmaker from Kaduna State, Bashir Zubairu, raised a point of order, noting that members had only received the report on the proposed legislation, prepared by the House Committee on Constitution Review, earlier in the day.
“Mr Speaker, this document was only made available to lawmakers in the chambers and we are yet to go through it. We cannot do justice to it because we have not gone through it,” Zubairu said.
Zubairu, a member of the African Democratic Congress, was, however, ruled out of order, allowing deliberations to proceed.
While the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, guided lawmakers through the clauses of the bill, shouts of “Point of Order” were heard from some members, but the presiding officer continued with the process.
Before the voting exercise, Abbas informed the chamber that the electronic voting system was not functional, necessitating the use of manual voting based on attendance.
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