Minority caucus kicks as Reps pass State Police Bill by voice vote

Controversy trailed the passage of the State Police Bill by the House of Representatives through voice votes Thursday, leading to a walkout by some opposition lawmakers.

The protesting lawmakers accused the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, of violating the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as the House Standing Rules, by resorting to voice votes to pass the State Police Bill.

Indications that the House was headed for a charged session emerged shortly after the Speaker took his seat as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole for a clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill, with Benedict Etanabene from Delta State raising a constitutional point of order.

However, Abbas, who overruled Etanabene when he could not cite any specific provision he was relying on, announced that a total of 276 members had signed the attendance register for yesterday’s plenary, while 35 would join the proceedings online.

Thereafter, he invited the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review, to give a synopsis of the Bill amid shouts of “point of order.”

After the synopsis, the Minority Leader, Fredrick Agbedi, and the spokesman of the opposition lawmakers, Afam Ogene, as well as some other members, kept raising “points of order”, while the Speaker continued with the proceedings.

Nonetheless, as Abbas called Clause One of the State Police Bill for consideration, the House became rowdy, with some members shouting “point of order” and others shouting “carried.”

As things got heated, Abbas called for a voice vote, requesting members in support of the proposed legislation to say “aye” while those against said “nay.”

Thereafter, he ruled in favour of the “ayes” and announced that the constitutional requirement for the amendment had already been met.

According to him, “a total of 276 Honourable members signed the attendance register in support of the police bill while 35 more voted online. This brings the number of lawmakers in support of the state police bill to 311. What is required to pass a bill is two-third of our members which is 240.”

Agbedi, who led the minority lawmakers on a walkout, told journalists that the opposition was not opposed to the establishment of state police but was not in support of the procedure adopted by the Speaker for consideration of the Bill.

The Minority Leader noted that “Let it be stated that the minority caucus is not against state police. We are in support of anything that will bring about peace and security in Nigeria. All we are saying is that there should be a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill which the Speaker rejected.”

He explained that the House Rules stipulate that in the clause-by-clause consideration of Bills at the Committee of the Whole, a clause is deemed passed only if it is supported by a vote of two-thirds majority of members of the House.