The House of Representatives, Wednesday threw into the” trash can” a bill seeking to repeal the Nigeria Police Act 2004 and enact the Nigeria Police Reform Act 2019 for purposes of creating a state police force across the states of the federation.
The development was sequel to an adopted bill sponsored by Hon. Edward Pwajok from Plateau State, saying it was an antidote to the contemporary security challenges prevailing in the country.
In his lead debate, Pwajok said the merits of the proposed legislation was to leave the police with no choice but to respect the right of Nigerians.
In their contributions, most of the lawmakers said the provisions of the bill were in conflict with constitutional provisions on the Police Force.
Hon.Toby Okechukwu said that the bill had a good number of contradictions, while Hon. Uzoma Abonta said that the nation does not need a state Police and added that something must urgently be done to make the police effective in its operations.
Yet, Okechukwu emphasised that the present structure of the Police Force was structurally defective, saying the country must find a way of dealing with the structure of the Police.
While raising the gavel in determination, Speaker Yakubu Dogara immediately put the matter to voice-vote and the bill, in effect, was unanimously rejected.
