The Constitution review process of the 9th Assembly appears to have encountered a roadblock following the failure of 25 State Houses of Assembly to vote on the 44 Constitution Alteration bills passed by the National Assembly in March 2022 and transmitted to the States for voting. In a press briefing, Deputy President of the Senate and Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, on Tuesday, 18th October 2022, stated that only 11 State Houses of Assembly have considered the bills. These include: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun and Osun States.
Correspondence from the Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review indicates that the other 25 Houses of Assembly will not consider the bills except the National Assembly passes four bills which they proposed. These include bills to establish State Police, State Judicial Councils, streamline the procedure for removing presiding officers of Houses of Assembly and institutionalisation of legislative bureaucracy in the Constitution. According to section 9 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, a Constitution alteration bill requires the resolution of two-thirds of State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria, to pass.
It will be recalled that the National Assembly passed 44 out of 68 Constitution Alteration bills in March 2022. Some bills that passed include a bill to recognise the Local Government as a tier of government with financial autonomy, a bill to empower the National Assembly or State House of Assembly to summon the President or Governor on issues that the National or State Assembly has power to legislate on, a bill to create uniform retirement age and pension rights for judicial officers of superior courts of record, a bill to establish independent candidacy for elective positions in the country, among others. It will be recalled that the National Assembly also failed to pass a key Constitution amendment requiring increased seats for representation of women in the National and State Houses of Assembly. With about 7 months to the end of the 9th Assembly, the Constitution review process is yet to be concluded.