By Favour Raphael
The Nigerian Senate has passed a bill seeking to amend the Constitution to pave the way for the establishment of state police across the country.
The bill was passed on Wednesday after lawmakers considered and approved the proposed constitutional amendments aimed at creating a legal framework for state-controlled police structures.
The development followed a decision by the Senate to adopt manual voting for the exercise after a technical fault affected the electronic voting system in the chamber.
The move was approved after some senators raised concerns that continuing with the faulty device could prevent some lawmakers from participating in the process.
Under the manual voting arrangement, senators stood up one after another, announced their names and openly declared their positions on the proposed state police framework.
The motion for the adoption of the manual voting process was moved by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.
The passage of the bill marks another step in the long-running debate on decentralising Nigeria’s security architecture amid calls for improved response to insecurity across the country.
