Nigeria, June 24 -- Nigerian senators have commenced the final debate on a constitutional amendment bill seeking to establish state police.

Deliberations during the plenary began at about 2:50 p.m., after the senators returned from a closed-door session that lasted about 30 minutes.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, led the debate on the consideration of the bill.

At the time the debate commenced, 87 senators were in attendance, exceeding the two-thirds majority required to pass such an amendment. Two-thirds of the Nigerian 109-senate is 73.

The lawmakers will use a manual voting process to determine whether the bill secures the required two-thirds majority. Under this procedure, each senator will stand up, introduce themselves and...