Constitution amendment: States get 30-day deadline

The National Assembly has sent the 2026 Constitution alteration bill to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for review, requesting their responses within a 30-day timeframe. The deadline, communicated on Wednesday by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, is not a constitutional deadline but an administrative one. This marks the beginning of the next phase of the constitutional amendment process, which requires approval from the state legislatures before proceeding.

Ogunlana explained that the transmission adheres to Section 9 of the amended 1999 Constitution, which mandates the bill to receive approval from at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly. The National Assembly had previously passed the proposed alterations, which must now be reviewed and approved by two-thirds of the 36 state legislatures.

The state legislatures are expected to consider the proposals according to their legislative procedures and communicate their resolutions to the National Assembly within 30 days. The 30-day period was requested by the Clerk, but it is not mandated by the Constitution. The National Assembly is committed to adhering to the constitutional requirements for the alteration process and completing it before the end of the 10th National Assembly in June 2027.