The Nigerian Senate has revealed that 34 states have endorsed constitutional amendment, insisting reform will strengthen community security as it urged federal lawmakers to measure legislative performance by impact on citizens
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele,
who is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Constitution Review Committee disclosed this on Thursday while delivering a lecture to participants of Senior Executive Course 48 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria.
Bamidele described the development as a historic breakthrough in the country’s efforts to restructure its security architecture, improve intelligence gathering and establish a policing system that responds more effectively to the security needs of local communities.
The Senate Leader said the approval of the State Police Constitution Alteration Bill, 2026, by an overwhelming majority of state assemblies have satisfied the constitutional requirement for state-level concurrence, paving the way for the National Assembly to complete the next stages of the amendment process.
The federal lawmaker explained that Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, requires the approval of not less than two-thirds of all State Houses of Assembly for a constitutional alteration of this nature.
He added that the National Assembly was now required to consider and collate the reports submitted by the state assemblies before passing the necessary resolution by a simple majority of members in each chamber. Adding that Once the stage is completed, the bill will be transmitted to the President for assent.
Bamidele stressed that the development marked a significant departure from more than 15 years of unsuccessful attempts to establish state police through constitutional reform.
He assured Nigerians that the National Assembly, under the leadership of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, remained committed to completing the legislative process.
As of the latest legislative updates, only a couple of states specifically Katsina and Borno have reported that their reviews and legislative work on the bill are still ongoing.
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads)
Editor: Terverr Tyav
