Six state legislatures have until 15 November to communicate their position on Nigeria’s proposed state police amendment. The Senate agreed to the deadline during its sitting on Wednesday, 4 November. Senate leader Opeyemi Bamidele named 30 state assemblies that had already approved the proposal, two more than in the clerk’s earlier count of 28.
The sequence helps explain why readers may have seen several different numbers in two days. Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin read a notice from the clerk to the National Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana. It put the count at 29 by the close of business on Tuesday. Bamidele’s list of 30 came later in Wednesday’s proceedings.
With 36 states, the two-thirds threshold is 24 approving assemblies. The 30 on the Senate leader’s list exceed that mark by six. The remaining states can still formally communicate a decision. Senate President Godswill Akpabio said that an assembly which fails to respond by the deadline would be recorded as having withheld approval.
That distinction matters. Giving the six assemblies time to reply does not undo votes already received. Nor did the Senate say all six had voted against the bill. Its decision concerns how to treat the absence of a response after the deadline, not the views of individual residents in any of those states.
Reports of Wednesday’s sitting differ on the timing of transmission. TheCable reported that the bill had been sent to President Bola Tinubu. Channels Television described the deadline as part of the process leading to transmission. Neither report confirmed that the president had signed the bill. A Senate tally and presidential assent are different events.
What it means for you. The 15 November date concerns the remaining state legislatures. It is not a date for residents to register with a police service or for officers to report for duty. Readers looking for a change in who polices their communities should distinguish the decision on the bill from any later announcement about implementation.