By Favour Raphael
President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill to develop the legal framework for the implementation of state police across Nigeria.
The committee, inaugurated on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, is chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, while members include Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, who is Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun.
Other members of the committee are the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe; Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police; and a secretariat to support the group’s activities.
The inauguration followed the Senate’s passage of the Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, which proposes a dual policing structure comprising the Federal Police Service and 36 State Police Services.
Tinubu, represented by Gbajabiamila, said while the constitutional amendment provides the framework for state police, the National Policing Bill would establish the legal structure required for its implementation.
“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,” the President said.
He added that the proposed legislation would address policing standards, state readiness, federal-state coordination, accountability, human rights safeguards, fiscal conditions and personnel transition.
According to Tinubu, the committee was constituted to produce an implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for transmission to the National Assembly.
“We must not wait until the constitutional process is concluded before beginning this important assignment,” he said.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, described the initiative as timely, given the country’s security challenges.
“There is no denying the fact that we are in a critical moment security-wise, and all hands must be on deck,” Fagbemi said.
He urged state governors to ensure speedy ratification of the constitutional amendment by their respective state assemblies.
President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Afam Osigwe, expressed support for the state police initiative but stressed the need for strong legal safeguards to prevent abuse.
“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 right legal framework must guarantee accountability and prevent oppression.”
Speaking on behalf of the NGF, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State pledged governors’ support for the speedy implementation of the reform.
He said governors would work to ensure that the constitutional amendment receives prompt approval from state assemblies.
Abiodun described state police as a response to Nigerians’ long-standing demand for community-based policing and said the initiative would complement existing security structures.
He added that if each state deploys about 6,000 personnel, the country could gain nearly 200,000 additional officers to complement the existing Federal Police Force.
The governor commended the President for beginning preparations for implementation before the completion of the constitutional amendment process, describing the move as proactive.
