The failure of the National Assembly to conclude its review of the 1999 constitution is leaving Nigerians to contend with unresolved structural problems in governance, including weak local government autonomy, over-centralisation of power, electoral shortcomings and limited fiscal independence of the states, constitutional experts and civil society groups have said.
Experts warned that the delay was not merely a legislative setback but one with direct consequences for citizens, as several reforms capable of changing how government operates at the grassroots, how resources are distributed and how Nigerians participate in elections remain trapped in the constitutional amendment process.
The concerns come as the 10th National Assembly, which promised to conclude its constitutional review by December 2025, is yet to complete the wider exercise after its committees were inaugurated.
Instead, the legislature has singled out the establishment of State Police from the broader review and fast-tracked it, citing the urgency of the country’s worsening security situation.
Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, who doubles as the deputy chairman of the Constitutional Amendment Committee, announced in June that the National Assembly had resolved to “isolate” the State Police proposal from the other constitutional amendment bills so that it could be passed without waiting for the broader review.
“What we have resolved to do is to isolate the state police amendment from the broader constitutional review agenda so that we can vote on it as quickly as possible,” Bamidele said.
The decision followed a series of meetings involving Jibrin Barau, the deputy president of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Constitution Review Committee; Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker and Chairman of the House Constitution Review Committee; the Attorney-General of the Federation; the Chief of Staff to the President; and the Inspector-General of Police.
Bamidele said the National Assembly had reached a firm conclusion that the constitutional amendment for State Police should proceed because of the security emergency.
“There is no reason for further delay,” he said.
The development has, however, raised questions over what happens to the other reforms that went through the same consultations and legislative process but have not received similar urgency.
Dotun Olajide, a constitutional lawyer, said the major problem with the existing constitutional arrangement was its excessive concentration of power at the centre.
He said Nigerians were demanding restructuring, particularly fiscal independence for states and devolution of powers.
“Restructuring is what the people are clamouring for,” Olajide noted, arguing that states should have greater control over their resources instead of depending heavily on allocations from the Federal Government.
He also supported State Police, saying the centralised policing structure had made it difficult for governors to respond effectively to security threats in their states because police commissioners ultimately answer to Abuja.
But he stressed that State Police should not be treated as a substitute for wider restructuring.
The lawyer argued that the Exclusive Legislative List contains excessive powers that should be transferred to the states, saying the current arrangement does not allow the federation to develop at the pace it should.
For citizens, experts say the consequences of failing to address these issues are visible in everyday governance.
Mairo Ibrahim, a lawyer and the Executive Director of Tunani Initiative, a youth-led organisation cultivating an informed and active citizenry to shape people-centred governance, said, the greater danger was not simply that the legislature had missed its deadline, but that it could deepen public distrust in democratic institutions by appearing to decide which citizens’ demands deserved urgency.
According to her, thousands of Nigerians participated in the review process through public hearings, memoranda, stakeholder consultations and town hall meetings, with demands ranging from fiscal federalism and local government autonomy to electoral reforms, independent candidacy and greater representation for women.
“The problem is that once you invite citizens to participate in a constitutional review, you create an expectation that their contributions will form part of a serious reform process,” she said.
“If, after all those consultations, only one issue is pulled out and fast-tracked while the others remain in limbo, people will naturally begin to question the value of the entire exercise.”
Ibrahim warned that repeated constitutional review exercises that begin with widespread public participation but fail to produce comprehensive outcomes could create what he described as “constitutional reform fatigue.”
“People become tired of appearing before committees, submitting memoranda and attending public hearings when they do not see the outcome of those engagements reflected in governance,” he said.
Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has argued that Nigeria’s current structure is a “unitary federation” and that genuine devolution and fiscal federalism are necessary for economic prosperity.
He said that the consequence of delaying wider constitutional reform could extend beyond politics to the economy.
Agbakoba has equally stated that Nigeria’s governance structure remains excessively centralised, leaving most states and local governments dependent on federal transfers rather than allowing the federating units sufficient control and responsibility over their development.
The continued delay in addressing fiscal federalism and devolution of powers, therefore, means that Nigeria could continue operating a governance structure that critics say has limited competition, innovation and economic development among the states.
He said, “No amount of economic fine-tuning can succeed within such a centralised structure,” Agbakoba said.
He maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms, including subsidy removal and exchange rate liberalisation, are technically sound but are trapped in a dysfunctional political system.
“You cannot fix economic problems with economic solutions when the root cause is political. Twenty-five years of constitutional amendments have failed because you cannot amend your way out of a flawed foundation,” he warned.
A constitution that leaves substantial powers concentrated at the centre affects the capacity of states to make decisions on matters within their communities.
Similarly, the unresolved question of local government autonomy affects the ability of the third tier of government to independently manage resources and provide services to citizens.
Electoral reforms, meanwhile, determine the quality of representation Nigerians get at both federal and state levels.
These were among the issues placed before the National Assembly during its nationwide consultations.
The official review process identified local government autonomy, devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, electoral reforms, judicial reforms, inclusive governance, State Police and other institutional reforms as key areas requiring constitutional attention.
The 10th National Assembly had initially presented the exercise as a comprehensive and people-driven review.
The process involved consultations with constituents, civil society organisations, institutions, interest groups and other stakeholders, as well as zonal and national public hearings.
By October 2025, Barau said the lawmakers had spent two years consulting Nigerians through town hall meetings, interactive sessions and public hearings.
“We have been in this process for the past two years, engaging our constituents, critical stakeholders, institutions, civil society organisations, and interest groups in town hall meetings, interactive sessions, and public hearings,” Barau said.
At the time, the joint committee was considering 69 amendment bills, 55 requests for the creation of new states, two boundary adjustments and 278 requests for the creation of new local government areas.
The committee eventually rejected 25 proposals and approved 44 bills for consideration by the National Assembly.
Those bills covered issues including local government autonomy, devolution of powers, fiscal reforms, electoral and judicial reforms, inclusive governance, fundamental rights, traditional institutions and State Police.
But the process began to unravel at the point where the proposals were expected to move from consultation to legislative action.
The House had initially scheduled October 14, 2025, for voting on the constitutional alteration bills, but the vote did not take place.
The process was subsequently moved towards December, with the House leadership assuring Nigerians that the review would be concluded before the end of the year.
At a joint retreat of the Senate and House Constitution Review Committees in Lagos in October 2025, Barau described the exercise as a “national duty that must be approached with patriotism, focus, and sincerity of purpose.”
He said the process had reached an important stage after two years of consultations.
The lawmakers were expected to complete the first stage of the process and transmit the approved amendments to the state Houses of Assembly before the end of 2025.
By November, Barau was still assuring Nigerians that the committee was entering its concluding phase.
At a meeting of the joint committee in Abuja on November 24, he said lawmakers were finalising the draft proposals ahead of voting.
The issues expected to feature included devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, electoral reforms, State Police and reserved seats for women.
But the December deadline eventually passed.
The National Assembly had scheduled December 9 and 10 for voting before transmitting the bills to the 36 state Houses of Assembly.
The voting was postponed, with no immediate new date announced before lawmakers proceeded on Christmas recess.
The missed deadline meant the wider constitutional review entered 2026 without completing one of its most critical stages.
The delay was particularly significant because the National Assembly leadership had repeatedly presented the timetable as deliberate.
In July 2025, Bamidele said the report of the review would be transmitted to the 36 state assemblies before December.
He also acknowledged that the National Assembly could not complete the constitutional amendment process on its own because the proposals would require approval by at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly.
The warning was important because every delay at the federal level reduced the time available for the states to consider the proposals before the 2027 political season gathered momentum.
Yet when the opportunity came to move one proposal considered urgent, the National Assembly created a separate route for it.
The contrast became particularly stark in June 2026.
While the broader constitutional amendment proposals were still awaiting conclusion, Bamidele announced that State Police would be removed from the package and considered separately.
He said the decision was supported by consultations involving the Presidency, security agencies and legislative leaders.
The Senate subsequently moved to consider the State Police amendment, and the proposal was advanced for transmission to the state Houses of Assembly.
Bamidele explained that the National Assembly could not afford to delay the security reform because of the country’s insecurity.
The decision has effectively demonstrated that the National Assembly can accelerate a constitutional proposal where lawmakers consider the issue sufficiently urgent.
It has consequently raised the question of why reforms affecting local governance, electoral participation, fiscal federalism and the distribution of political power cannot receive similar attention.
It has become more concerning to stakeholders knowing that once the National Assembly reconvenes on September 15 after it’s annual recess, the assembly will focus more on politics and campaigns for the January 2027 elections.
This will make it very difficult to work on the Constitutional Amendment process.
The 10th Assembly is not the first parliament to struggle with constitutional reform.
Successive assemblies since the return to democracy in 1999 have embarked on review exercises, often accompanied by extensive public hearings and ambitious promises.
The 7th Assembly, between 2011 and 2015, undertook an extensive review involving public hearings and consultations across the country.
The 8th Assembly, which followed in 2015, adopted a different approach by separating constitutional amendments into different bills instead of packaging numerous reforms together.
That approach helped lawmakers secure passage of several amendments, including the constitutional changes associated with the Not Too Young To Run initiative.
The 9th Assembly subsequently considered 68 Constitution Alteration Bills in 2022, covering local government autonomy, devolution of powers, electoral reforms, judicial reforms, revenue and other issues.
Ultimately, 35 amendment bills were transmitted to the President after obtaining the required state support, while late President Muhammadu Buhari assented to 19 of them in March 2023.
The latest review therefore follows a familiar pattern: extensive consultations, ambitious promises, delayed voting and a limited number of reforms eventually making it through the constitutional amendment chain.
The timing is becoming increasingly important. The constitutional amendment process requires more than passage by the National Assembly.
Under Section 9 of the Constitution, constitutional alterations require the support of not less than two-thirds of all members of each chamber of the National Assembly and approval by the Houses of Assembly in at least two-thirds of the states before the President can assent to them.
That makes the process significantly more time-consuming than ordinary legislation.
The closer the country moves towards the 2027 elections, the more difficult it becomes to complete a comprehensive constitutional exercise without the process becoming entangled in electoral politics.
The 10th Assembly was aware of this when it set its December 2025 target. It was also aware of the history of previous assemblies, several of which struggled to complete constitutional amendments before their tenure expired.
Yet the deadline was missed. And rather than revive the entire package with the same urgency, the legislature has prioritised one of the proposals with the strongest backing from the Executive.
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