By Ahmed Akanbi

The Senate has ended its end-of-session recess early and summoned lawmakers to reconvene on Tuesday, June 23 to address “pressing matters of urgent national importance”, with insecurity and the state police bill topping the agenda.

The directive was contained in a notice issued Tuesday by the Clerk of the Senate, Dr Emmanuel Odo, on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The notice, obtained by our correspondent, directed senators to reconvene by 11:00am.

Sources familiar with the development disclosed that the emergency session is directly linked to the Constitution Alteration Bill for state policing.

The House of Representatives passed the bill last Thursday. The Senate, however, only scaled it through second reading and deferred voting to the first week of July when plenary was expected to resume.

The bill was subsequently referred to the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Alteration, chaired by Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin, for further legislative work.

The early recall comes amid growing public and political pressure over worsening insecurity nationwide.

Lawmakers and stakeholders argue that further delay on the state police bill is no longer tenable, given the urgency of the security situation.

The Constitution Alteration Bill requires the physical presence and votes of at least two-thirds of all senators to pass for national effect.

With the June 23 session, the Red Chamber is expected to fast-track deliberations and take crucial decisions on national security before the scheduled July resumption.