Over 20 months after inaugurating its Constitution Review Committee, the Senate has yet to produce a single amendment bill for second reading, raising concerns among constitutional experts and civic groups that the review process is already behind schedule.
The committee, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, was inaugurated in February 2024 with a mandate to process proposals for amendments to the 1999 Constitution. Despite the fanfare surrounding its launch in December 2024, not a single bill has progressed to the second reading stage, a delay analysts warn could jeopardise the entire review cycle.
Under Nigeria’s constitutional framework, amending the 1999 Constitution requires a long and intensive legislative journey.
Each proposed amendment must undergo first reading, then second reading and be referred to the appropriate committee, followed by a public hearing where stakeholders present memoranda.
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After this, the committee is expected to lay its report before the Senate for third reading and passage, followed by harmonisation with the House of Representatives, where necessary.
The final hurdle is transmission to the 36 state Houses of Assembly, from which at least 24 states must vote in favour before the National Assembly can adopt the report.
Section 9 of the Constitution further stipulates that an amendment must secure a two-thirds majority of all members of each chamber: 72 senators and 240 House members before it can be considered valid.
Experts say this complex process ordinarily takes between 18 and 24 months, even when the legislature starts early, works transparently, and sustains momentum.
Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate leader, had at the Zonal hearing of the South West in July promised that the bills would be transmitted to the State Houses of Assemblies by December 2025.
He said, “We have completed the public hearing. We are now returning to Abuja to prepare our report.
“Part of our timetable is to have final notifications before the end of the year and transmit our report to all state assemblies.
“This will round off the process of the constitution review.”
But with the Senate yet to publish, debate or refer any constitution amendment proposal for public hearing after over one year and ten months, analysts argue that the 10th National Assembly has already lost critical time.
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Experts voice concerns
Chidi Solomon, a constitutional lawyer and public affairs analyst, said the situation has gone beyond ordinary delay and now suggests that the process is stalled.
According to him, “Constitution amendment requires time and structure.
“The Senate has not brought any amendment bill for second reading, meaning the committee has not even completed the minimum steps. Nigerians do not know what is being proposed, and there is absolutely no public visibility.
“A constitutional review cannot thrive in secrecy, yet what we have today is silence.”
He added that no committee can hope to complete the Section 9 requirements if it spends a full year without beginning the foundational legislative stages.”
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director, The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), described the ongoing review process as “the most opaque in recent cycles,” noting that even previous amendments, despite their flaws, were handled with more transparency.
He argued that Nigerians have the right to know which issues the Senate is considering.
“The committee has not published a list of proposed amendments; it has held no public hearing, with no visibility of what is being passed.
“Constitutional amendment is not meant to be a secretive activity.
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“Citizens must see the bills, engage them, and prepare for public hearings. This level of silence creates the impression that nothing is happening, or there is so much to hide,” he said.
Faith Nwadishi, executive director of the Centre for Transparency Advocacy, said constitutional reviews tend to lose momentum once election campaigns set in.
“If the Senate hopes to pass any amendment before the end of this administration, it should already be moving bills to the point of harmonisation with the House of Representatives and preparing for transmission to state assemblies.
“Instead, it is still at zero. No second reading, no public hearings, no committee reports. That is extremely worrying,” she said.
The implications of the delay are far-reaching. Several high-demand amendments, such as state police, local government autonomy, gender equality, judicial reforms, devolution of powers, and changes to the immunity clause, remain stuck in uncertainty.
She noted that Nigerians expect urgency from the 10th Senate, given how many key reforms failed during previous amendment attempts. “Some of these issues have been pending for over a decade,” she said.
“A year after committee’s inauguration, nothing has moved. It suggests these reforms may not receive meaningful attention before 2027,” Nwadishi added.
Advocacy groups are now demanding that the Senate publish the list of all proposals before it, indicate which ones it intends to prioritise, and release a timetable that outlines when second readings, public hearings, and state-level engagements will take place.
Something is happening, says lawmaker
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However, a member of the committee insisted that work is ongoing behind the scenes, but he offered no firm timelines.
A top member of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief journalists, said the committee was still collating inputs and drafting bills.
The source argued that the process was ‘technical and delicate’ and would be made public
Soon, though he could not specify when.
