President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated a Presidential Working Group to draft the National Policing Bill that will operationalise state police across Nigeria, even before the constitutional amendment process is concluded.
Represented at Tuesday's inauguration at the Presidential Villa in Abuja by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Tinubu said the Constitution Alteration Bill recently passed by the Senate created the framework for a dual policing structure but did not bring it to life.
"The Constitution Amendment Bill establishes the framework for dual policing, but it does not operationalise it. That work is left to the National Policing Bill," he said.
The proposed legislation will cover minimum policing standards, state readiness certification, federal-state coordination, accountability, human rights safeguards, fiscal conditions and personnel transition.
"We must not wait until the constitutional process is concluded before beginning this important assignment," Tinubu said.
He directed the group to produce an implementation-ready draft for transmission to the National Assembly.
Gbajabiamila will chair the working group, whose members include the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police and a Secretariat.
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Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi described the initiative as timely. "There is no denying the fact that we are in a critical moment security-wise, and all hands must be on deck," he said.
He appealed to governors to fast-track ratification of the constitutional amendment in their state assemblies. "I appeal to the governors to do their utmost to ensure the early passage of the constitutional amendment because this is a shared responsibility," he added.
NBA President Afam Osigwe backed the reform but sounded a note of caution. "Nigeria can hardly be effectively policed by one national police. We fully support the constitutional amendment providing for state police," he said.
Osigwe added that the legal framework must include robust safeguards against abuse. "We must ensure we do not create a monster. The right legal framework must guarantee accountability and prevent oppression," he warned.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, speaking on behalf of the NGF, pledged that all 36 state governors intended to pass the bill simultaneously once it reached their respective Houses of Assembly.
"The plan is that when the bill gets to our various Houses of Assembly, we will all pass it on the same day," he said.
Abiodun maintained that state police would add close to 200,000 officers to complement the existing federal force if each state deployed around 6,000 personnel.
He described the reform as a validation of community policing models such as the Amotekun initiative in the South-West.
NAN
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