Bill seeking establishment of state police scales second reading at senate

A bill seeking to establish state police in Nigeria has passed second reading at the senate.

The upper legislative chamber voted in favour of the bill sponsored by Ike Ekweremadu, senator representing Enugu west, at Thursday’s plenary session.

This comes less than a month after a bill enabling community policing passed for second reading at the upper legislative chamber.

Both President Muhammadu Buhari and Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police, had endorsed community policing.

Also passed for second reading is a bill seeking to establish separate election tribunals to hear and determine pre-election matters and election petitions respectively.

The bill, sponsored by Ovie Omo-Agege, deputy senate president, is seeking creation of the tribunals to fast-track the handling of cases from the presidential, national assembly, governorship and state house of assemblies elections.

The bills passed for second reading without deliberation, and subsequently referred to the senate constitutional amendment committee.

Others adopted bills are on specifying the period within which the president or governor can presents the appropriation bill, reducing the unlawful exclusion of a political party logo on a ballot paper, and replacing the name “Nigeria police force” with “Nigeria police”.