June 24 (THEWILL) — The Senate, on Wednesday, commenced a historic clause-by-clause vote on the proposed constitutional amendment seeking the establishment of state police across Nigeria, marking a significant milestone in ongoing efforts to reform the country’s security architecture and strengthen subnational participation in policing.
The exercise, which attracted widespread attention from political stakeholders and security experts, saw senators openly declare their positions on various provisions of the bill after the upper chamber abandoned its planned electronic voting system in favour of a manual roll-call process.
The decision followed concerns that technical glitches affecting some electronic voting devices could prevent certain lawmakers from participating in the proceedings.
Moving the motion for the adoption of manual voting, Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the change was necessary to ensure that no senator was disenfranchised during the constitutional amendment exercise. He also stressed the need for transparency, noting that Nigerians deserved to know where their elected representatives stood on critical national issues.
“There is a need to also ensure transparency both within ourselves as people that will be performing this major constitutional responsibility, as well as members of the public. Rather than go by way of electronic voting, which obviously is not the case today, and disenfranchise a few of our colleagues whose machines are not working, I am moving that we give every distinguished senator the opportunity to answer his or her father’s name by doing manual voting”, Bamidele said.
The motion, seconded by Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, received overwhelming support from lawmakers.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio subsequently endorsed the proposal, arguing that open voting would promote accountability and allow constituents to track the positions taken by their representatives on the landmark legislation.
“For the purpose of transparency, and the need for the constituents to know where you stand on every issue, it is good for us to go into manual voting”, Akpabio stated.
Following the adoption of the motion, the Senate suspended relevant provisions of its Standing Orders, enabling senators to stand individually, announce their names and publicly declare their votes during the consideration of the amendment.
The Senate proceedings also witnessed a dramatic reversal of an earlier decision regarding access to the chamber by governors and senior government officials invited to observe the debate. The request had initially been rejected in a voice vote, in line with Senate rules that ordinarily restrict access to the floor of the chamber to lawmakers.
However, the decision was later reconsidered after Akpabio appealed to senators to allow key stakeholders to witness the proceedings.
The Senate President argued that governors had a direct interest in the proposed reform because any constitutional amendment establishing state police would ultimately require approval by state legislatures.
Following his intervention, Bamidele moved a fresh motion seeking the suspension of Order 12 of the Senate Rules on floor privileges to permit the invited guests to enter the chamber.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin supported the motion, describing it as a necessary step towards inclusive engagement on a matter of national importance.
The Senate subsequently approved the request, paving the way for the admission of several prominent officials, including Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
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