The leadership of the 10th House of Representatives has set up the Conference Committee that would facilitate the harmonisation of the State Police bill, 2026, passed by both Chambers.
Confirming this on Monday, the House Spokesman, Rep. Akin Rotimi, announced the constitution of a Conference Committee to facilitate the harmonisation of the Constitution Alteration Bill on State Police with the Senate’s version, alongside two Ad hoc Committees to strengthen legislative oversight and safeguard the integrity of public finance.
According to him, the Conference Committee on the Constitution Alteration Bill on State Police will be chaired by the Majority Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo).
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Recall that the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, who doubles as Chairman, Special Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Review, had, during a reception hosted by the Ambassador of the European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, in Abuja last Tuesday, assured Nigerians and the international community that the proposed State Police bill contains strict guardrails to prevent abuse.
While noting that Nigeria’s current centralized policing structure is overstretched for a federation of 923,768 square kilometres and more than 230 million people, it also addressed some concerns raised by diplomatic partners about possible misuse, assuring that it will not be abused.
The Deputy Speaker said that under the proposal, States would be allowed to establish their own police services with defined jurisdictions, independent oversight, professional recruitment standards, and coordinated command.
Hon. Kalu said: “Nigeria is a federation of 923,768 square kilometres, home to more than 230 million people by United Nations estimates, yet it remains policed by a single, centrally commanded force, stretched far below the United Nations’ recommended ratio of one Police Officer to every 450 Citizens. No other federation of our size operates this way; from Germany to India, from Canada to Australia, the world’s great federations police locally and coordinate nationally.
“Our proposal follows that settled wisdom: a constitutional framework allowing states to establish their own police services, with defined jurisdictions, independent oversight, professional recruitment standards, and coordinated command.
“I often put it simply: the officer who comes from a community knows its roads, its markets, its people, its tensions. The officer who knows the forest will police the forest.
“And to legitimate concerns about abuse, concerns we have heard, including from partners in this room – the bill responds not with assurances but with architecture. Our objective is not simply to decentralise policing; it is to constitutionalise accountability.
“We have put guardrails in the way the State Police is going to be operated. The guardrails will not allow any abuse.”
In the same vein, the House leadership also set up two other Ad-hoc Committees that will investigate the inclusion of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) in the 2026 Appropriation Framework.
The ad hoc Committee is to be chaired by Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi (APC, Plateau), who sponsored the motion.
The House Spokesman also confirmed the constitution of the ad hoc Committee on the delayed releases and inadequate funding of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Budgets.
According to him, the Ad-hoc Committee is to be chaired by Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar (APC, Kano)
These Committees underscore the House’s commitment to expediting constitutional reform, strengthening legislative oversight, and promoting transparency, accountability, and fiscal discipline in the management of public resources.
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