Nigeria’s House of Representatives, on Thursday, descended into chaos as lawmakers disagreed over the procedure for considering the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish state police, with opposition members staging a walkout.
The protest followed Speaker Tajudeen Abbas’ decision to subject the bill to a voice vote without taking each of its 26 clauses separately, despite objections raised by members of the minority caucus. Minority Leader Frederick Agbedi repeatedly attempted to raise a point of order during the session but was not recognised by the Speaker.
Instead, Abbas asked lawmakers to vote by voice, calling for those in support of the state police proposal to say “aye” and those against it to say “nay.” After ruling that the “ayes” had carried the vote, minority lawmakers walked out of the chamber in protest.
Defending his action, the Speaker said the required constitutional threshold had already been met, noting that 311 lawmakers supported the proposal, exceeding the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
“A total of 276 honourable members signed the attendance register in support of the police bill while 35 more voted online. This brings the number of lawmakers in support of the state police bill to 311. What is required to pass a bill is two-thirds of our members, which is 240″, Abbas said.
Speaking after the walkout, Agbedi said the minority caucus was not opposed to state police but disagreed with the manner in which the bill was handled.
He maintained that lawmakers should have considered the amendment clause by clause before voting.
“Let it be stated that the minority caucus is not against state police. We are in support of anything that will bring about peace and security in Nigeria. All we are saying is that there should be a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill which the Speaker rejected”, he said.
The proposed amendment is part of broader efforts by the National Assembly to reform Nigeria’s security structure amid rising concerns over insecurity.
