The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow the creation of state police and legalise regional security outfits, the PUNCH reports.

The current police system will be decentralised by moving police from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List.

Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, who sponsored the bill, said in the explanatory note that the bill seeks to alter the Constitution “to provide for state police and other state government security services to enhance security and preservation of lives and properties in Nigeria”.

The bill especially proposes an amendment to Section 197 (1) by inserting new Paragraphs ‘e’ and ‘f’ to provide for ‘State Police Council’ and ‘State Police Service Commission,’ respectively.

The Second Schedule to the Constitution will also be altered in Part I by deleting Item 45 from the Exclusive Legislative List; and in Part II by inserting after Item 30 on the Concurrent Legislative List, new Items 31 and 32.