State Police: Senate gives 6 states 11 days to approve bill, warns of consequences

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The Senate has given six State Houses of Assembly until November 15 to communicate their decisions on the proposed establishment of State Police, warning that any legislature that fails to respond within the next 11 days could be deemed to have withheld approval for the constitutional amendment.

The affected states are Benue, Oyo, Cross River, Niger, Abia and Kano, although the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, subsequently informed the chamber that the Kano State House of Assembly had approved the proposal and was transmitting its resolution to the National Assembly.

The ultimatum came as Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele disclosed during plenary on Wednesday that 30 of the 36 State Houses of Assembly had endorsed the proposed constitutional amendment, exceeding the two-thirds majority of 24 states required under Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution.

Despite having surpassed the constitutional threshold, the Senate insisted that the outstanding state legislatures must formally communicate their positions before November 15, which its leadership identified as the target date for forwarding the proposed amendment to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

The development marked another stage in the National Assembly’s efforts to decentralise Nigeria’s policing system through the establishment of State Police Services alongside the existing federal police structure, amid growing demands for a more effective response to insecurity across the country.

The proposed amendment, formally known as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Sixth Alteration) Bill, 2026, was passed by the Senate on June 24 and the House of Representatives on July 23 before being transmitted to the 36 State Houses of Assembly for concurrence.

Bamidele, while briefing his colleagues on the outcome of consultations with the state legislatures, explained that the process of altering the Constitution involved three distinct stages: passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly and presidential assent.

He said the federal legislature had fulfilled its constitutional responsibility by passing the bill, while the required number of state assemblies had also approved the proposal, leaving the remaining legislative and administrative processes to be concluded.

“Three key words are used in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended. The first is passage, the second is approval, and the third is assent.

“The passage of the bill was the responsibility of the National Assembly, and that has been completed. Approval is required from at least two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly in the country, while assent must subsequently be given by the President to complete the constitutional amendment process,” he explained.

The Senate Leader said the requirement for state legislative approval was intended to ensure that constitutional amendments enjoyed broad participation and support across the federation rather than being determined exclusively by the National Assembly.

He identified the 30 states that had approved the proposed amendment as Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

According to him, the approvals demonstrated considerable support for the proposed decentralisation of policing among elected representatives at the state level, with the number already exceeding the minimum required to advance the amendment.

“Two important points need to be emphasised. First, we needed the approval of at least two-thirds of the states for this constitutional amendment to proceed.

“Two-thirds of the 36 states amount to 24. We have already secured approval from 30 states, demonstrating the popularity of this bill among Nigerians through their elected representatives in the various State Houses of Assembly,” Bamidele stated.

However, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, while welcoming the level of concurrence recorded so far, insisted that the remaining state legislatures should be given a definite deadline to communicate their decisions.

Akpabio said it was important for the National Assembly to establish whether the outstanding states supported or rejected the proposal, particularly given the significance of the constitutional alteration and its implications for Nigeria’s security architecture.

He maintained that the creation of State Police represented a major constitutional development that required consultations across the federation before the proposed amendment could be forwarded to the President.

“What I would like you to do is to give a specific timeframe within which the remaining six states should communicate their decisions.

“The reason is that we need to know whether they concur with or reject the proposed alteration of the Constitution to allow for the creation of State Police.

“This is an important constitutional amendment, and we must ensure that the entire country has been consulted on such an epoch-making bill and piece of legislation before it is eventually assented to by the President,” Akpabio said.

The Senate President consequently suggested that the outstanding states should be given another week to conclude their deliberations and formally notify the National Assembly of their positions.

Responding, Bamidele explained that the National Assembly had already provided a 30-day administrative window for all 36 State Houses of Assembly to consider the proposed amendment and transmit their resolutions to the federal legislature.

He disclosed that the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, had formally communicated the deadline to the state legislatures in a letter dated October 15, 2026, making November 15 the final date stipulated in the correspondence for their responses.

“Well, Mr President, let me clarify that the letter written on our behalf and signed by the Clerk to the National Assembly was conveyed to the 36 State Houses of Assembly on October 15, 2026.

“In that letter, the Clerk indicated on our behalf that the State Houses of Assembly had until November 15 to consider the bill and communicate their decisions. This provides a clear 30-day period to allow them sufficient time to sit, deliberate and take the necessary decisions,” Bamidele explained.

He said the deadline had become necessary because the National Assembly intended to forward the proposed constitutional amendment to President Tinubu from November 15, having already secured the required two-thirds approval of the state legislatures.

The Senate Leader warned that any State House of Assembly that failed to communicate its resolution within the stipulated period risked having its silence interpreted as withholding approval, although the number of approvals already received was sufficient to meet the constitutional requirement.

“We believe that the remaining six states will use the time available between now and that date to do the needful.

“By that date, any State House of Assembly that has not communicated its position will be deemed to have withheld approval, or whatever constitutional implication may arise from its failure to respond,” he stated.

Bamidele expressed optimism that the outstanding states would take advantage of the remaining period to conclude their deliberations, stressing that the National Assembly was interested in securing the broadest possible participation in the proposed reform.

The Senate’s latest directive followed an earlier disclosure by the Clerk to the National Assembly on November 3 that his office had received and verified reports from 28 state legislatures approving the proposed amendment.

Ogunlana had explained that the verification exercise covered the resolutions and accompanying Votes and Proceedings submitted by the state assemblies to establish their authenticity and ensure that the documents accurately reflected the decisions taken by the respective legislatures.

He said the 28 verified approvals had already exceeded the constitutional threshold of 24 states, representing two-thirds of the 36 State Houses of Assembly, required for the proposed amendment to proceed.

The Clerk also clarified that the 30-day period given to the state legislatures to communicate their decisions was an administrative arrangement rather than a deadline imposed by the Constitution.

According to him, his office would continue receiving and processing resolutions from the state assemblies until the proposed amendment was transmitted for presidential assent.

Meanwhile, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, informed the chamber that the Kano State House of Assembly had also approved the proposed amendment and was in the process of formally communicating its resolution to the National Assembly.

Barau explained that although the transmission of the resolution had been delayed, the state legislature had concluded the necessary consideration and endorsed the proposal.

“Mr President, I have just been informed that the Kano State House of Assembly has sent its response, and it is being communicated to us.

“There was a delay in the process, but the Kano State legislature has done the needful. It is a very outstanding State Assembly,” he said.

Akpabio welcomed the development and expressed satisfaction with the information, as the Senate moved closer to concluding the constitutional amendment process.

With the 30 approvals already reported by the Senate Leader and Kano’s subsequent announcement of concurrence awaiting formal communication, attention has now shifted to the remaining outstanding state legislatures and the November 15 target set by the National Assembly for transmitting the proposed amendment to President Tinubu.

The proposed establishment of State Police is intended to provide a constitutional framework for policing at the state level, marking a significant departure from the existing centrally controlled policing arrangement if the amendment completes the required legislative process and receives presidential assent.

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