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By Egena Sunday Ode

The Federal Government has formally mobilised the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill to produce a draft law that will guide the take-off of State Police in Nigeria, with a target date of September 3, 2026 for presentation to President Bola Tinubu.

Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Working Group, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, while briefing journalists after the group’s inaugural meeting.

He, consequently, issued an open call for memoranda, position papers and proposals from Nigerians at home and abroad, civil society, professional bodies and other stakeholders to inform the legislative proposals for onward presentation to the president. He said submissions will be organised by theme and that the national consultation will allow Nigerians to engage directly with the clauses, safeguards and funding arrangements.

He declared that the bill will take care of the public concerns of political abuse by state chief executives.

Gbajabiamila noted that the Senate had on June 24, 2026 approved the State Police constitutional proposal, while the House of Representatives passed the Executive State Police Bill on July 23, 2026.

However, he stressed that the constitutional amendment is not yet in force, as it still requires the approval of State Houses of Assembly as prescribed by the Constitution. Until that is concluded, he noted, there is no operational State Police Service anywhere in Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force remains the constitutionally recognised police institution.

According to him, the constitutional amendment only creates the authority and broad architecture for federal and state policing but does not settle operational issues such as standards, certification, recruitment, training, funding, command, jurisdiction, complaints, data, firearms, pensions and transition.

He said those gaps are what the National Policing Bill and its supporting laws are expected to address.

The Chief of Staff explained that President Tinubu set up the Working Group to ensure Nigeria is “ready to act responsibly” when the constitutional process is completed. Its mandate, he said, is to produce a technically robust and implementation-ready draft National Policing Bill and a supporting legislative package that will move the country from a single federal police institution to a workable dual-policing architecture.

He listed the scope of the assignment to include an audit of the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework and other affected laws; provisions on national minimum policing standards; assessment of State readiness; rules for federal-state and inter-state cooperation; independent personnel and complaints institutions; human-rights, custody and use-of-force safeguards; pension portability; interoperable data and forensics systems; firearms control; funding and grant conditions; and the treatment of existing security outfits, assets and liabilities.

Gbajabiamila said the Working Group comprises the Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Nigerian Bar Association. The President has also approved a multidisciplinary Policy Advisory Committee chaired by Hon. Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Liman, with members drawn from the judiciary, academia, security agencies, the National Assembly, technology and data experts, the NBA, the NGF and State Attorneys-General from the six geopolitical zones. The Committee will provide policy and technical oversight and validate the Bill and implementation materials before executive consideration.

He announced a seven-week, milestone-driven work programme running from July 27 to September 14, 2026. The Executive Bill package is scheduled for presentation to the President on September 3, after which a national consultation will be held before the draft is revised and transmitted to the National Assembly.

The Chief of Staff said the final package will include schedules, an explanatory memorandum, a legal audit, a clause-by-clause analysis, a State readiness framework, fiscal and implementation notes, a risk register and a digital archive. He added that operational take-off of any State Police Service must be based on proven readiness in recruitment, vetting, training, pay, pensions, equipment, custody, complaints, discipline, data and financial sustainability.

He acknowledged public concerns about political abuse, unequal State capacity, duplication of commands and poor funding, saying such fears are why safeguards must be built into the law. “State Police cannot mean thirty-six state militias, just as national standards cannot become a disguised method of re-centralising day-to-day State policing,” he said, adding that federal intervention must remain exceptional, evidence-based and reviewable.

The Chief of Staff said that while the reform will not solve every security problem, it offers Nigeria an opportunity to build a policing system better matched to the country’s scale and diversity, with a strong Federal Police for national responsibilities and capable State Police Services for state and local duties, all under common standards.

Other members of the committee presnt at the press briefing included the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun and President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Afam Osigwe.