Benue, Oyo, Abia, Other States Yet to Approve State Police Bill as Senate Sets Nov 15 Deadline

. 30 assemblies endorse constitutional amendment

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate has given the six state Houses of Assembly yet to communicate their positions on the proposed constitutional amendment establishing the State Police until November 15 to do so, warning that failure to respond by the deadline could be deemed as withholding approval.

The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this during plenary yesterday while updating lawmakers on the progress of consultations with the 36 state legislatures on the proposed amendment.

The outstanding states are Benue, Oyo, Cross River, Niger, Abia and Kano.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, has, however, informed the red chamber that the Kano State House of Assembly would transmit its approval to the National Assembly before the November 15 deadline.

The Senate Leader nevertheless said 30 states had already approved the bill, exceeding the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of 24 states needed to advance the amendment.

The outstanding six states are expected to communicate their decisions before November 15, when the National Assembly intends to forward the proposed constitutional amendment to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

Bamidele explained that the National Assembly had completed its responsibility by passing the bill and transmitting it to all 36 state Houses of Assembly for consideration and approval.

He said the constitution prescribed three distinct stages for constitutional amendments: passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly and presidential assent.

He said: “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.”

The Senate Leader explained that the constitutional requirements were deliberately designed to ensure that amendments to the nation’s supreme law enjoyed the participation and agreement of critical stakeholders across the different levels of government.

He listed 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.

Bamidele said the 30 approvals represented more than the constitutionally stipulated threshold of 24 states, expressing optimism that the remaining six would communicate their decisions before the expiration of the deadline.

He said: “Two important points need to be emphasised. Firstly, 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.”

However, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, urged the Senate Leader to give the outstanding states a specific timeframe to communicate their decisions, stressing that the National Assembly needed to establish whether they supported or rejected the proposed constitutional alteration.

Akpabio said the establishment of State Police is a significant constitutional development that required broad consultation across the country before the amendment could be transmitted to the president for assent.

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

“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 is consulted on such an epoch-making bill and piece of legislation before it is eventually assented to by the President.”

Akpabio consequently suggested that the outstanding states should be given another week to communicate their positions.

Responding, Bamidele clarified that the National Assembly had already provided a 30-day window for all the state legislatures to consider the proposed amendment and communicate their resolutions.

He said the Clerk of the National Assembly had on October 15, 2026, formally conveyed a letter to the 36 state Houses of Assembly, indicating November 15 as the deadline for their responses.

“Well, Mr. President, let me clarify that the letter written on our behalf and signed by the Clerk of 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,” he said.

The Senate Leader explained that the November 15 deadline was necessary because the National Assembly intended to transmit the bill to President Tinubu from that date.

He warned that any state House of Assembly that failed to communicate its position by then would be deemed to have withheld approval, or face whatever constitutional implications might arise from its failure to respond.

“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,” Bamidele stated.

He expressed confidence that the outstanding states would take advantage of the remaining period to communicate their decisions, adding that the National Assembly was hopeful that no state would want to be excluded from the proposed constitutional reform.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau Jibrin, informed the Senate that the Kano State House of Assembly had also submitted its response to the proposed amendment.

Barau, who disclosed this during the proceedings, said he had just been informed that the Kano State legislature’s communication was being conveyed to the National Assembly.

“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, expressing satisfaction with the information.

The proposed constitutional amendment is part of ongoing efforts to restructure Nigeria’s policing architecture by providing for the establishment of State Police Services.

The initiative is intended to create the constitutional foundation for decentralised policing, amid continuing national discussions on how to strengthen security arrangements and improve responses to security challenges across the country.

Although the 30 approvals already secured have surpassed the constitutional threshold, the Senate’s November 15 deadline provides the remaining state legislatures an opportunity to formally communicate their positions before the amendment is forwarded to the president for the next stage of the constitutional process.