Kogi Lawmakers Back State Police in Constitutional Amendment Vote

By: Ganiyu Olayinka

The Kogi State House of Assembly has voted unanimously in favour of a constitutional amendment to create state police in Nigeria. Lawmakers pointed to insecurity, the need for better intelligence and the chance to create jobs for young people.

Speaker Aliyu Umar Yusuf announced the decision on Tuesday after plenary debate on the Constitution Alteration Bill, which provides for state police across the country. He called the vote an important step in strengthening Nigeria’s security system and said the scale of threats to lives and property called for more responsive policing. He listed terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, farmer-herder clashes and political thuggery among the problems.

Yusuf argued that state-run police forces could react faster to threats in their own areas. In his view, officers recruited locally would know the terrain and the people better, which would help with intelligence gathering and with spotting suspicious movements early. He added that state police could speed up responses to distress calls, cut administrative delays and work alongside the Nigeria Police Force.

On jobs, he said taking young people into state police formations could open up employment and ease some of the social problems tied to joblessness.

He reminded the House that President Bola Tinubu started the amendment process. Both chambers of the National Assembly passed it, and it was then sent to the state Houses of Assembly for their approval under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Members who spoke backed the proposal. They said policing closer to communities would improve public safety and take some pressure off the federal police, which is responsible for the whole country. Yusuf urged them to support it, saying it gave Kogi a chance to help build a more responsive security framework.

After the debate, the Assembly approved the amendment without opposition and directed the Clerk to inform the National Assembly of its decision.

The vote is one step in the amendment process. The amendment can’t take effect until the remaining constitutional requirements have been met.