State Houses of Assembly are set to engage state governors on the proposed constitutional amendments transmitted by the National Assembly, as lawmakers begin deliberations on the 2026 Constitution alteration bills.
The Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Emomotimi Guwor, disclosed that the consultation with governors would help harmonise the positions of the executive and legislative arms at the state level before the assemblies take final decisions.
The development follows the transmission of the Constitution Review bills, including the proposed State Police Bill, to the 36 State Houses of Assembly by the National Assembly.
Guwor said the speakers had taken note of the transmission but were awaiting the formal copies of the resolutions before commencing detailed consideration.
According to him, once the documents are formally received, the Conference of Speakers will subject the proposals to thorough legislative scrutiny.
The State Police Bill is expected to receive particular attention because of its implications for governance and security administration at the sub-national level. Guwor said the proposed consultation with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was necessary because governors and state lawmakers both have constitutional responsibilities in the amendment process.
He also assured that all state speakers would be carried along as deliberations progress and that the resolutions reached by the various Houses of Assembly would subsequently be transmitted to the National Assembly in accordance with Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The National Assembly had on Wednesday, September 16, transmitted the 2026 Constitution alteration bill to the 36 state legislatures for consideration.
The Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, asked the state assemblies to consider the proposals and communicate their resolutions within 30 days. However, the National Assembly clarified that the 30-day period is an administrative timeframe and not a constitutional deadline.
The constitutional amendment process differs from ordinary legislation because it requires approval from a specified number of state legislatures before the National Assembly can complete the process.
Under Section 9 of the Constitution, a bill seeking to alter the Constitution must secure approval by resolutions of not less than two-thirds of the Houses of Assembly of the 36 states. This means the position of the state legislatures will be critical to determining which of the proposed alterations can proceed.
The transmission of the bills therefore marks a significant transition from the federal legislative phase to the state-level consideration of the proposed amendments.
Guwor said the state lawmakers would consider the proposals on their merits and ensure that the process reflects their constitutional responsibilities.
The proposed State Police framework is among the issues expected to generate considerable attention during the consultations. Its consideration comes amid continuing discussions over the structure of policing and the respective roles of federal and sub-national authorities in addressing security challenges.
The Conference of Speakers is expected to engage the Governors’ Forum as the state assemblies begin their review, with the objective of establishing areas of agreement while allowing individual legislatures to exercise their constitutional responsibilities.
The National Assembly has also stressed that its transmission of the bills should not be interpreted as an instruction to state legislatures on how to vote.
Instead, the state assemblies are expected to deliberate according to their respective legislative procedures and communicate their decisions after completing consideration of the proposals.
As the process continues, the outcome of the consultations between governors and speakers, as well as the independent deliberations of the 36 state legislatures, will determine the next stage of the constitutional amendment exercise.
For now, the focus has shifted to the states, where lawmakers are expected to examine the proposed alterations before forwarding their resolutions to the National Assembly.
