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.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said any assembly that failed to respond by the deadline would be regarded as having withheld its approval.
The decision followed an update by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, during Wednesday’s plenary, indicating that 30 of the 36 state assemblies had approved the proposed constitutional amendment.
Although the number of approvals has exceeded the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of 24 state assemblies, Akpabio appealed for more time to allow the remaining six states to make their positions known. The Senate unanimously supported the extension.
The 30 states that have approved the proposal 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.
Bamidele explained that the constitutional amendment process requires passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of the state assemblies and presidential assent before it can become law.
The proposed amendment seeks to alter the 1999 Constitution to allow state governments to establish and manage their own police services, as part of efforts to decentralise policing and address insecurity across the country.
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