The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, has assured Nigerians that the proposed State Police Bill contains strong safeguards against abuse, saying the legislation is designed to improve security while ensuring accountability.
Kalu gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja during a reception hosted by Gautier Mignot, where he also appealed for continued European Union support for Nigeria’s ongoing constitutional reform process.
He said Nigeria’s centralised policing structure has become overstretched for a country of over 230 million people, stressing that many federal nations successfully operate state or local police services alongside national security agencies.
According to the Deputy Speaker, the proposed legislation will empower states to establish their own police services under a constitutional framework that guarantees oversight, accountability and clearly defined operational limits.
Kalu dismissed concerns that governors could misuse state police for political purposes, insisting that the bill contains constitutional safeguards to prevent abuse and protect citizens’ rights.
“We have put guardrails in the way the state police are going to be operated. The guardrails will not allow any abuse,” he said, adding that accountability remains a central feature of the proposed legislation.
He argued that community policing would strengthen intelligence gathering and crime prevention because officers recruited from their communities possess a better understanding of the local environment and security challenges.
“The officer who comes from a community knows its roads, its markets, its people, its tensions,” Kalu said, noting that such local knowledge would make policing more responsive and effective.
Speaking on the Reserved Seats for Women Bill, Kalu said women deserve greater representation in governance, noting that although they constitute about 49.3 per cent of Nigeria’s population, they occupy only 19 of the 469 seats in the National Assembly.
He explained that the proposed legislation would create additional seats for women without displacing current office holders, adding that increased female participation in governance could significantly strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
He disclosed that more than one million Nigerians had already endorsed the proposal.
The Deputy Speaker also highlighted other constitutional amendment bills covering local government autonomy, citizenship, the judiciary, elections and fiscal reforms.
He said the bills have passed the National Assembly and now await approval by at least 24 state houses of assembly.
Kalu urged the European Union to sustain its support for Nigeria’s constitutional reform agenda through technical cooperation and legislative partnerships, expressing confidence that the reforms would deepen democracy and improve the lives of Nigerians.
“The measure of constitutional reform is not the number of clauses amended; it is the number of lives improved,” he said.
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