Barring any changes, the Senate is set to begin considering and passing bills to further amend the 1999 Constitution when lawmakers reconvene on January 27 after the Christmas and New Year break.

The Nigerian Tribune reports that State police tops the list of proposed amendments, along with changes to align the Constitution with the Electoral Act, 2022.

Also high on the agenda is the bill seeking special seats (Special Seats Bill) for women in the National Assembly and state legislatures, to be contested exclusively by women.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti-South), told the Nigerian Tribune in an exclusive interview in Abuja on Tuesday that the Constitution and the Electoral Act would be senators’ priorities when they resume on January 27.

Adaramodu said that before the National Assembly went on recess in December 2025, the Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Alteration, chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, had already met in a joint session with its counterpart in the House of Representatives to collate and review submissions from stakeholders for inclusion in the Constitution.

According to him, the report of the joint session is now with the Senate and ready for consideration.

He explained:

“What is left now is for us to take it (report) clause by clause. After taking it clause by clause, that is the end of it.

“Immediately we resume now (January 27), we will take everything clause by clause. You know the procedure in the National Assembly is that once any report is taken clause by clause, that’s the end of the whole process.

“After that, we will send the report to the State Houses of Assembly for approval.”

Adaramodu added that the Jibrin-led committee had earlier conducted zonal public hearings on the Constitution across the six geopolitical zones, where Nigerians from diverse backgrounds contributed input on the proposed changes.

When asked which issues most captured stakeholders’ attention, Adaramodu listed state police, special seats for women, and electoral matters requiring consequential constitutional amendments.

“The basic things there are state police; then already, we have taken care of electoral reforms in the Electoral Act (Amendment Bill); there is the issue of special seats for women to be contested by women alone, and so on,” he stated.

The Special Seats Bill proposes adding 37 seats in the Senate (one per state and the FCT), 37 in the House of Representatives (one per state and the FCT), and 108 in State Houses of Assembly (three per state, one per senatorial district).

This would create 182 additional women-only seats nationwide, existing alongside current constituencies without redistributing existing ones.

The bill failed to progress beyond the National Assembly during the last review attempt, as most lawmakers opposed it. Despite recent campaigns by its promoters, it remains unclear whether the bill will succeed this time.

Addressing concerns over timing, given that the 2027 elections are approaching, Adaramodu said the legislature still had enough time to pass both the constitutional amendment report and the Electoral Act.

“We believe we are still within the timeframe because even for the Electoral Act, INEC will not release the timetable for electioneering until late February.

“As for the Constitution, we have collated the views of all the stakeholders and we are waiting to resume to pass the report.

“This is not something that will take more than a few days and we are done. So, there is still time for that,” Adaramodu added.

Section 9(2) of the Constitution specifies the procedure for amendment, requiring a bill to pass with at least a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

This means a report on any amendment bill must secure the votes of at least 240 members (out of 360) in the House of Representatives and 72 (out of 109) senators.

Once the National Assembly has passed it, the report is forwarded to the State Houses of Assembly, where at least two-thirds of states (24 out of 36) must approve it.

After state approval, the bill returns to the National Assembly for adoption before presidential assent or withholding of assent.

Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee, said the amendment process Is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.

“The review of the 1999 Constitution is already at an advanced stage. We are poised to transmit all the proposals to the State Houses of Assembly for consideration. Before the first half of 2026 ends, we should be able to conclude the constitution review that will devolve more functional powers to the sub-national governments.

“However, this depends on the decisions of the state legislatures to approve all the proposals.

“We are also committed to delivering a people-centric constitution that will deliver a progressive governance structure to Nigerians.”

The 45-member Jibrin-led committee received proposals covering a wide range of areas, including security and policing, fundamental rights and objectives, state creation, judicial reforms, devolution of power, the role of traditional institutions, local government reforms, and electoral reforms. (Nigerian Tribune)

Update news