Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, has warned that the Senate must not serve as a rubber stamp for duplicative institutions.
Naijaonpoint reports that Oshiomhole made this known while opposing a bill seeking to establish a training institute for the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The bill, titled ‘Police Service Commission Training Institute (Establishment) Bill, 2025’, was presented during Thursday’s plenary by Senator representing Oyo Central, Yunus Akintunde, on behalf of the chairman of the Senate Committee on police affairs, Abdulhamid Mallam-Madori.
He said, “That the Senate do receive and consider the report of the Committee on Police Affairs on the Police Service Commission Training Institute (Establishment) Bill, 2025 (SB. 564).”
In response, Oshiomhole opposed the bill, questioning the logic of establishing a training institute for a commission that employs few people and already has a limited operational scope.
The former governor and labour leader emphasised that the country should invest in training police officers and not the police service commission.
He said, “This house can’t rubber stamp everything, Mr President, Sir. With profound respect, I think we have to be careful over multiplications and duplications of institutions that will add no value whatsoever.
“With due respect, I’ll like to ask: beside the Nigeria Police Force, how many people are employed under the Police Service Commission besides the commissioners whose business is to regulate and oversight the affairs of recruitment, training for the Senate to set up a committee to establish an institute to train a commission which may sometimes not even exist?
“In the not-too-distant past, the idea of Police Service Commission was even abolished and they created the ministry of police affairs.
“Now you have ministry of police affairs and they will train their people as civil servants, then you have police service commission to train who?
“This country should invest in training police men and women and not police service commission.”
However, Akintunde clarified that the PSC is a constitutionally recognised body and has not been replaced or scrapped in favour of any ministry.
He said, “Police Service Commission is in existence. It was not cancelled to create the ministry of police affairs. There is quite a world of difference between the police force and the police service commission.
“This Senate has passed a training institute for the Nigeria Police Force earlier this year. The one we are requesting for now is Police Service Commission Training Institute.”
Bauchi Central Senator, Abdul Ningi, intervened, cautioning that the debate on the substance of the bill had come at the wrong time.
According to Ningi, the bill has gone through debates and public presentations, adding that the Senate can only accept the decisions taken at the various stages.
He said, “We must be guided by our rules. This is a bill at the second reading. The argument canvassed by Senator Adams Oshiomhole, as good as they look, have gone beyond that.
“He must wait, if this bill is assented to, then he can come for amendment. We have gone beyond that. This is not up for debate.”