File photo: House of Representatives
The House of Representatives was thrown into a rowdy session on Thursday during the consideration of the Constitution Alteration Bill seeking to establish state police, as opposition lawmakers staged a walkout in protest over what they described as a breach of parliamentary procedure.
The protest followed the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas’ decision to put the bill to a voice vote without reading and considering each of its 26 clauses individually, despite attempts by members of the minority caucus to raise objections.
The Minority Leader, Frederick Agbedi, repeatedly sought to raise a point of order during the proceedings but was not recognised by the Speaker.
Rather than subject each clause of the bill to separate consideration and voting, Abbas called for a voice vote, asking members in support of the state police bill to say “aye” and those against it to say “nay.”
