Senate President Godswill Akpabio
The Senate has given the six state Houses of Assembly yet to approve the proposed establishment of state police until November 15 to communicate their positions, warning that failure to respond by the deadline would be treated as rejection.
The decision followed an update by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, during plenary on Wednesday, indicating that 30 of the 36 state assemblies had approved the proposed constitutional amendment.
Although the 30 approvals have exceeded the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of 24 state assemblies, Senate President Godswill Akpabio appealed for more time to enable the remaining six assemblies to make their positions known.
Akpabio said any assembly that failed to respond by November 15, would be deemed to have withheld its approval.
“They should be given more time. Let’s give them till November 15 to respond,” he said.
The Senate unanimously supported his appeal.
Earlier, Bamidele read out the names of the 30 state assemblies that had approved the bill.
They are 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 States.
Bamidele said the number of approvals had surpassed the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of the 36 state assemblies, representing 24 states.
The Senate Leader explained that the amendment process involved three stages: passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of state assemblies and presidential assent.
He said, “Passage of the bill was meant to be done by the National Assembly, which was done, and approval is meant to be done by at least two-thirds of the 36 state Houses of Assembly in the country, and assent is to be given by the President to complete this process.”
The proposed amendment seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution to provide for the establishment of state police services, a major security reform designed to decentralise policing and allow state governments to establish and manage their own police structures.
The proposal is expected to address longstanding concerns about the limitations of the centralised policing system, particularly in tackling insecurity across the country’s diverse communities.
With 30 assemblies already having approved the proposal, the Senate’s decision to extend the deadline is intended to give the remaining six states an opportunity to complete the process before the amendment is transmitted to the President for assent.
