The Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emomotimi Dennis Guwor, has said state Houses of Assembly are awaiting the formal transmission of the National Assembly’s Constitution Review resolutions before commencing consideration of the proposed amendments.

Guwor’s position followed the announcement by the Clerk to the National Assembly that the Sixth Alteration Bill, including the proposed State Police Bill, had been transmitted to state legislatures for consideration.

Reacting to the development in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Nkem Nwaeke, the Conference Chairman said the Speakers had taken note of the announcement but were yet to receive the formal copies of the bills.

He said the state legislatures would commence the necessary legislative processes once the documents were officially received.

“We are still awaiting formal transmission and as soon as we receive it, we will do what will be good for the people of Nigeria,” Guwor stated.

Guwor said the Conference would subject the proposed constitutional amendments to thorough legislative scrutiny, stressing that the bills would be considered on their individual merits and implications for Nigerians and the various levels of government.

He, however, singled out the State Police proposal for particular attention, noting that the issue required careful engagement because of its potential implications for sub-national governance and the existing constitutional relationship between the Federal Government, state governments and state legislatures.

According to him, the Conference of Speakers intends to engage the leadership of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to harmonise perspectives on the proposed framework for state policing before state legislatures take their final positions.

Guwor maintained that dialogue among key stakeholders would help ensure that any constitutional framework eventually adopted adequately addresses the security needs of the states while also taking account of institutional checks and balances.

He said the Conference would ensure that all Speakers were carried along on developments as the process progresses, stressing that the position of individual state legislatures would ultimately be communicated to the National Assembly in accordance with the constitutional procedure for amending the 1999 Constitution.

The Conference Chairman said the state legislatures remained committed to discharging their constitutional responsibilities in the review process and ensuring that their decisions reflected the interests of the people they represent.

The constitutional amendment process is expected to require concurrence from the relevant number of state Houses of Assembly before proposed alterations can become part of the Constitution, making the position of the state legislatures crucial to the fate of the Sixth Alteration Bills.