The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives on Thursday staged a dramatic walkout and accused the leadership of the Green Chamber of violating constitutional and parliamentary procedures in the passage of President Bola Tinubu’s State Police Bill.
The lawmakers alleged that Speaker Abbas Tajudeen ignored their formal request to suspend consideration of the constitutional amendment despite acknowledging receipt of their memorandum before Thursday’s plenary.
Addressing journalists after the walkout, the Minority Caucus Spokesperson, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene (NDC, Anambra), disclosed that the caucus had on July 22 submitted a memorandum titled “State Police: Nigeria Must Get It Right” urging the House to recommit the bill for further legislative scrutiny.
According to him, the Speaker’s office acknowledged the letter on July 23, but the House proceeded to consider and pass the bill without addressing the concerns raised by the opposition lawmakers.
Ogene stressed that the Minority Caucus was not opposed to the establishment of State Police, insisting that the proposed constitutional framework required further refinement before passage.
“We support the principle of State Police because Nigeria’s security challenges require bold constitutional reforms. However, our concern is that the constitutional framework before the House is incomplete and should have been subjected to further review,” he said.
He disclosed that the caucus had proposed that the bill be recommitted to allow constitutional experts, security professionals, state governments and other stakeholders to address legal, operational and fiscal issues identified in the proposal.
Ogene, however, lamented that none of the recommendations was considered during plenary.
He also accused the House leadership of failing to properly ascertain the required number of lawmakers present before proceeding with the constitutional amendment process.
“The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Even our Standing Orders derive their authority from it. Ignoring constitutional provisions is an affront to the House of Representatives,” he said.
The Minority spokesman further alleged that the leadership denied lawmakers the opportunity to consider the bill clause by clause despite submitting detailed recommendations to the Speaker.
Also speaking, Minority Leader Hon. Frederick Agbedi (PDP, Bayelsa) insisted that the caucus fully supports the creation of State Police but rejected the procedure adopted in passing the bill.
“We are not against State Police. We support every effort aimed at tackling insecurity, but Parliament must follow due process. Once the rules are ignored, the credibility of the National Assembly and our democracy is put at risk,” Agbedi said.
He disclosed that the caucus had earlier met with Speaker Abbas, who allegedly admitted that certain provisions of the bill required amendments.
Agbedi faulted the decision to adopt the constitutional amendment through a voice vote after reading only the long title of the bill.
“Constitutional amendments require clause-by-clause consideration and a two-thirds majority vote. You cannot amend the Constitution through a voice vote,” he argued.
He also criticised the Speaker for ruling him out of order without allowing him to present his constitutional objection.
“As Minority Leader, I raised a point of order, but before I could even state it, I was ruled out of order. That is not how Parliament should function,” he said.
Questioning the validity of the voting process after opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber, Agbedi asked: “If we had left the chamber, where did our votes come from? You cannot determine a constitutional amendment through a voice vote.”
He maintained that the Minority Caucus only wanted the opportunity to debate the bill clause by clause and propose amendments in line with the Constitution and the House Standing Orders.
Calling on Nigerians to defend democratic institutions, Agbedi said the caucus would continue to stand for the rule of law and due process.
Earlier on Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the Executive Constitution Alteration Bill establishing State Police Services, with Speaker Abbas Tajudeen announcing that 311 lawmakers voted in support of the proposal, comprising 276 physical votes and 35 virtual votes.
The Senate also approved the constitutional amendment, leaving the proposal to await ratification by at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly before it can become part of the Constitution.
