Nigeria Opens Public Consultation on State Police Bill, Sets Seven-Week Timeline
Dr Nafisat Makinɗe, Abuja
The Nigerian government has opened a two-week public consultation on a proposed National Policing Bill that would establish the legal and operational framework for state police services, with a presidential committee adopting a seven-week timetable to complete the draft legislation.
The development followed a meeting of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill at the State House in Abuja and was announced in a statement issued on Monday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The committee invited memoranda and policy proposals from citizens, security agencies, civil society organisations, academics, professional bodies, and state and local governments to help shape the legislation.
The Presidential Working Group, chaired by Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the work programme will run from July 27 to Sept. 14, 2026. A draft Executive Bill is scheduled to be presented to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sept. 3 before further national consultations and its eventual transmission to the National Assembly. The committee said submissions received during the consultation would be reviewed and incorporated into the draft bill.
The Working Group is reviewing the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework, police regulations and other relevant laws. The proposed legislation is expected to establish national minimum standards for recruitment, training, oversight, funding and transition arrangements, while defining state readiness requirements, clarifying the responsibilities of federal and state policing authorities, providing for independent oversight, safeguarding human rights and setting out a framework for a dual policing system.
“A proposed State Police Service must demonstrate that it has credible arrangements for recruitment, vetting, training, pay, pensions, equipment, custody, complaints, discipline, data, firearms control, independent oversight and financial sustainability before it begins policing,” Gbajabiamila said.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, said the proposed legislation is intended to strengthen public safety while preventing the misuse of state policing powers.
“The proposed National Policing Bill is designed to guarantee the security of lives and property while ensuring that the establishment of state police does not become a tool for political persecution,” Fagbemi said. He added that states not immediately ready to establish their own police services would continue to rely on the Federal Police until they meet the prescribed standards.
Representing the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun said the proposed legislation was designed to provide an operational framework for state policing rather than centralise control, responding to concerns about possible federal overreach.
Other participants at the meeting included Inspector General of Police Tunji Disu, President of the Nigerian Bar Association Afam Osigwe, Chairman of the Policy Advisory Committee Justice Abdullahi Liman (Rtd.), Head of the Nigeria Police Reform Secretariat Professor Olu Ogunsakin, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Planning and Research Nnadubem Moghalu, and Brigadier General Olutayo Muyiwa Adesuyi, representing the National Security Adviser.