The bill for creation of State Police sponsored by House of Representatives leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, has passed its first reading at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 10.
The new bill seeks to amend Section 214 (1) of the 1999 constitution by deleting the phrase “and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof” immediately after the word “force.”
The House also noted that new sections – 215 and 216 – will be created by amending the existing sections 217 and 218 to spell out the structure and operations of the proposed state police.
The new bill reads in parts: “217. (1) There shall be a police force in each state of the Federation.
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution – (a) a state Police Force shall be organised and administered in accordance with such provisions as may be prescribed by an act of the State House of Assembly; (b) members of state police shall have such powers and duties as may be conferred upon them by law.
“218. (1) There shall be – (a) a Commissioner of Police who shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the State Police Council from among serving members of the State Police Force; (b) a Head of Police for each state of the Local Government Area of the State to be appointed by the State Police Service Commission. “(2) The State Police Force shall be under the command of the State Commissioner of Police.
“(3) The Governor or such other Commissioner of the Government of the State as he may authorise in that behalf may give to the Commissioner of Police such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order as he may consider necessary, and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them to be compiled with.
“The Principal Act is hereby amended by deleting item 45 from the Exclusive Legislative List in part 1 of the second schedule of the Constitution. “That the entire items on the Exclusive Legislative List in part 1 of the second schedule of the Constitution are hereby rearranged and renumbered as items 1 to 67 with the exclusion of the deleted item under this Bill.”
Also, there will be a creation of section 21 in part 2 of the second schedule to give powers to state Houses of Assembly to create state police commands.