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ABUJA – The Federal Government, on Monday, commenced the process for mapping out the legal and operational procedures that would guide the implementation of state policing system.
Chief of Staff to the President, and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on National Policing Bill, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed at the Presidential Villa Abuja, in company of members of the State Police Working Group, comprising the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; the governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, among others, that the policy is gaining traction because majority of Nigerians are favourably disposed to it.
Daily Independent recalls that the Senate approved the state police constitutional proposal on June 24, 2026, and the House of Representatives passed the Executive State Police Bill on July 23, 2026.
Briefing State House correspondents of the latest development, Gbajiabamila said the working group is now at the stage of designing a lawful, professional and sustainable federal and state policing system that places greater capability closer to the people while preserving national standards, national security and the rights of every Nigerian.
He explained that part of the task of the group includes undertaking a preliminary audit of the Police Act 2020, the Police Service Commission framework, police regulations and other laws and instruments affected by the reform.
According to the Chief of Staff, they are at the point of mapping out provisions on national minimum policing standards; assessing objective analysis of state readiness and certification; federal-state and inter-state cooperation; clear jurisdictional rules; independent personnel and complaints institutions; human- rights, custody and use-offorce safeguards and rank equivalence analysis.
Other framework being handled include transfer, secondment and pension portability; criminal information, forensics and interoperable data systems; firearms control; funding and grant conditions; federal intervention structures; and the orderly treatment of existing security outfits, assets, liabilities, records and pending cases.
He said those matters must be addressed in the National Policing Bill and in the consequential laws and instruments that will accompany it.
Gbajabiamila also stressed that Mr. President established the Presidential Working Group so that Nigeria will be ready to act responsibly when the constitutional process is completed.
“Our mandate is to produce a technically robust, implementation- ready draft National Policing Bill and supporting legislative package,” the Chief of Staff noted. He said the government is proceeding on a clear principle, stressing that local policing capability must be matched by national safeguards.
He clarified that 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.
According to him, “States must have a legitimate policy voice on public safety, whereby no political officeholder should be able to direct the arrest of an opponent, the suppression of lawful political activity or the selective enforcement of the law.”
While noting that the working group will bring together the institutions that must own and implement these decisions, he insisted that 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 will through the working group secretariat conduct the research, legal audit, policy analysis, drafting, data processing, consultation, document control and preparation of the final transmittal package.
He disclosed that the president has also approved a multidisciplinary Policy Advisory Committee, chaired by Hon. Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Liman.
He said inputs will be gleaned from wide array of Nigerian stakeholders, especially from the judiciary, academia, police and security agencies, justice-sector reformists, public policy experts, technology and data experts, the National Assembly, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and State Attorneys-General.
He said, “The committee includes direct subnational perspectives, including State Attorneys- General drawn from across the six geopolitical zones.
The role of the Policy Advisory Committee is to provide high-level policy and technical oversight.
“It will test assumptions, identify gaps, review the policy outline and successive versions of the bill, and validate the supporting fiscal, transition and implementation materials before they move to executive consideration.
“In a reform of this sensitivity, independent oversight and a documented record of comments and dispositions are essential to both quality and public confidence. The approved work programme is a seven-week, milestone-driven exercise running from July 27 to September 14, 2026.
“We recognise the concerns that accompany this reform: the fear of political abuse, unequal state capacity, duplication of commands, poor funding, ethnic or sectional capture, and the possibility that new institutions could reproduce old failures.
“Those concerns are legitimate. They are precisely why the constitutional amendment cannot be treated as self-executing and why the National Policing Bill must be comprehensive.
“Safeguards are not obstacles to state police; they are what make state police credible, lawful and sustainable. This reform will not, by itself, solve every security problem in Nigeria. No law can substitute for good leadership, competent officers, reliable intelligence, adequate resources, professional discipline and public trust.
“But Nigeria has an opportunity to build a policing system better matched to the scale and diversity of the country: a strong Federal Police Service for federal, inter-state and national-security responsibilities; capable State Police Services for state and local responsibilities; and common standards that protect the Republic and its citizens.
“Mr. President recognises this opportune moment and is determined that we, as a country, will rise to meet this moment together, capably and responsibly. For us on the Working Group, Mr. President’s direction is clear.
We have accepted the responsibility, and we will achieve our mandate. I thank the members of the Working Group, the Policy Advisory Committee, the Committee Secretary, the Secretariat and all institutions that have committed their expertise to this assignment.
“I thank the Nigerian people and call on all well-meaning citizens to join us to produce a better and more legitimate outcome by ensuring that this process of designing and implementing a dual policing structure is inclusive, collaborative and brings all Nigerians together in a joint effort for the common good”.
Daily Independent also recalls that President Bola Tinubu became bent on creating state policing system when incidence of kidnapping and banditry became rife across the country.
While agitations over insecurity was becoming unbearable for the administration to contain, diverse stakeholders pressurised the president to take prompt action to actualise its implementation.
