Ignatius Okorocha, Abuja
The National Assembly has received approvals from 30 State Houses of Assembly for the proposed constitutional amendment seeking the establishment of State Police Services, with the remaining six states expected to communicate their positions by November 15, the deadline given for the exercise.
The development means that the proposed amendment has already exceeded the constitutionally required two-thirds majority of the 36 State Houses of Assembly, representing 24 states, although the National Assembly is still awaiting the outstanding approvals before proceeding with the final stage of the constitutional amendment process.
The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this on Wednesday during plenary, where he read out the names of the 30 states that had so far approved the bill, to provide clarity on the progress of the exercise.
Also, the Senate has received a request from President Bola Tinubu seeking approval for N10.79 trillion external borrowing equivalent to approximately 7.7 billion US dollars to finance part of the 2026 budget deficit.
Bamidele explained that the remaining six states had until next Monday to complete the process and communicate their resolutions to the National Assembly before the bill could proceed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent.
He said the National Assembly had fulfilled its constitutional responsibility by passing the bill and transmitting it to the 36 State Houses of Assembly for consideration and approval.
The 30 states that have approved the proposed amendment 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.
In his ruling, 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 the November 15 deadline 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.
Explaining the constitutional procedure for amending the 1999 Constitution, Bamidele identified three critical stages: passage by the National Assembly, approval by at least two-thirds of the State Houses of Assembly and presidential assent.
“Let me explain again, for the avoidance of doubt, three keywords are used in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended. The first word is passage, the second word is approval and the third word is assent,” he said.
According to him, while passage of the bill is the responsibility of the National Assembly, approval must be secured from at least 24 of the 36 State Houses of Assembly, after which the President is required to give assent to complete the constitutional amendment process.
He noted that the constitutional requirements were deliberately designed to ensure that amendments to the nation’s supreme law enjoyed broad support across the different levels of government.
“The reason the writers of our Constitution, our forefathers, put all these specific words is to ensure that no part of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be easily amended without the buying in of all the critical stakeholders at all levels of governance,” Bamidele stated.
The Senate Leader expressed satisfaction that 30 states had already approved the proposed amendment, describing the development as an indication of the level of support the initiative had received from elected representatives across the country.
“Two things that need to be emphasised here is that we needed two-thirds of the states at the very least for this to pass, and already two-thirds will be 24. So, as of yet, we already got 30 states, showing the popularity of this bill among Nigerians through the elected representatives in the State Houses of Assembly,” he said.
He, however, stressed that the National Assembly was still expecting the remaining six states to communicate their approvals before the Monday deadline.
“We believe that the remaining six states will still get back to the National Assembly before next week Monday, which is the deadline,” he added.
Bamidele described the development as an important moment for Nigeria’s constitutional and democratic process, expressing optimism that the outstanding states would complete the exercise within the stipulated period.
“But so far, I want to say that this is a very happy development for our democracy and for the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
Earlier, a notice from the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, had been read on the floor of the Senate by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, indicating that the National Assembly had received approvals from 29 State Houses of Assembly as of the close of business on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
The notice stated that the leadership of the National Assembly was monitoring the submissions from the state legislatures as part of the constitutional amendment process.
The subsequent announcement by Bamidele brought the number of approving states to 30.
The proposed State Police amendment is aimed at decentralising Nigeria’s policing architecture by creating room for the establishment of police services at the state level, complementing the existing federal policing structure.
The proposed reform is expected to provide a constitutional framework for state governments to establish and manage their respective police services, subject to the safeguards and regulatory provisions to be contained in the amended Constitution.
The initiative has remained a major subject of national debate, particularly against the backdrop of persistent security challenges, including banditry, kidnapping, terrorism and other forms of criminality across different parts of the country.
With 30 states having already approved the amendment, the National Assembly is now awaiting the remaining six states to complete the required constitutional process before the bill is formally transmitted to President Tinubu for assent.
The President’s assent will constitute the final stage of the amendment process, after which the necessary legal and institutional arrangements for the establishment of State Police Services can proceed.
Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter seeking the National Assembly for the implementation of external borrowings approved in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Reading the letter during plenary, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the request was made pursuant to Sections 21(1) and 27(1) of the Debt Management Office Establishment Act, 2003.
In the letter, Tinubu recalled that the 2026 Appropriation Act provided for N29.2 trillion in new borrowings to finance a budget deficit of about N31.4 trillion.
He explained that the borrowing comprised N18.4 trillion in domestic borrowing and N10.79 trillion in external borrowing, with the latter forming the subject of the request.
According to the letter, the federal government plans to raise approximately 7.7 billion dollars through one or a combination of available funding sources.
He said the proposed sources included concessional and commercial loans from multilateral and bilateral institutions, the International Monetary Fund, bridge financing facilities, direct borrowing from international financial institutions and Eurobond issuance.
The president said the options would be pursued simultaneously, considering their respective costs, benefits and the time required to access the funds.
Tinubu, however, he said greater emphasis would be placed on Eurobond issuance because it was generally faster to conclude and could raise larger amounts at relatively competitive costs.
Tinubu explained that the final borrowing terms, including interest rates and tenures, would depend on prevailing market conditions at the time of pricing.
He assured that the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office would work to secure the best possible terms for the country.
The president said the proposed borrowing would finance priority projects in defence and security, transportation, agriculture, power, education and health.
He noted that the funds would be received by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of the federal government and would also support external reserves.
The president consequently requested the National Assembly to authorise the federal government to implement the N10.79 trillion external borrowing, equivalent to approximately 7.7 billion dollars, at the budget exchange rate of N1,409 to one dollar.
He also sought approval for the funds to be raised through one or more of the identified sources, with greater emphasis on Eurobond issuance.
Additionally, he requested authorisation for the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, working with the Debt Management Office, to take necessary actions to implement the resolution.
Reacting after reading the letter, the Senate President said the latest request superseded an earlier request for 20.3 billion dollars, describing the new correspondence as more explicit.
Akpabio said the government would explore different funding sources to secure the most favourable borrowing terms through a willing-seller, willing-buyer arrangement.
The Senate President subsequently referred the request to the Committee on Local and Foreign Debt to report back to the Senate as soon as practicable.
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