President Bola Tinubu has appointed his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, as chairman of the newly inaugurated Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill. The committee was formally launched on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, with Gbajabiamila standing in for the president. Its primary mandate is to draft a legal framework for the establishment of state police in Nigeria following recent constitutional amendments by the National Assembly.
Tinubu stated that while the constitutional changes provide the basis for dual policing, they do not operationalise it. He explained that the National Policing Bill would fill this gap by setting out the practical legal structure. The proposed legislation will cover minimum policing standards, state readiness certification, federal-state coordination mechanisms, accountability systems, human rights safeguards and fiscal arrangements for state police units.
The president emphasized that the working group must produce an implementation-ready draft bill without delay. He directed that the draft be transmitted to the National Assembly as soon as possible, adding that the committee should also identify other legal instruments needed for a smooth rollout of the system.
Members of the committee include the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police, and a Secretariat.
Femi Gbajabiamila is now leading a policing reform effort while serving as the president's Chief of Staff, a dual role that blurs executive oversight and policy implementation. The committee includes officials who report directly to the presidency, raising questions about how independent its recommendations will be. Nigerians named in the committee's structure, including the Attorney-General and Inspector-General of Police, may face conflicting mandates when balancing federal authority against state policing autonomy. The process unfolds without public input or timeline for delivery.
Editorial note: AI-assisted opinion, not established fact. Full disclaimer →
