By Amofokhai Williams
President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated a Presidential Working Group to draft the National Policing Bill, a key piece of legislation expected to provide the legal framework for the implementation of state police across Nigeria.
The inauguration, held on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, marks another major step towards the establishment of a dual policing system following the National Assembly’s passage of the Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, the President said while the constitutional amendment creates the foundation for state policing, the proposed National Policing Bill will spell out how the new security architecture will operate.
According to Tinubu, the legislation will define minimum policing standards, state readiness requirements, federal-state coordination mechanisms, accountability measures, human rights safeguards and fiscal responsibilities to ensure the smooth implementation of state police.
“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 explained that the Working Group had been constituted to produce a technically sound and implementation-ready draft bill for transmission to the National Assembly immediately after the constitutional amendment process is completed.
Tinubu said the committee was inaugurated ahead of the conclusion of the constitutional process to prevent delays in implementing one of the country’s most significant security reforms.
Gbajabiamila will chair the committee, whose members include the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe; the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF); the National Security Adviser; the Inspector-General of Police; and the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police. A secretariat will provide administrative support.
Speaking on behalf of the governors, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun pledged the full backing of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, assuring that governors would work with their respective State Houses of Assembly to expedite the ratification of the constitutional amendment.
He described state policing as a response to Nigerians’ longstanding demand for community-based security and said it would build on the success of regional security outfits such as Amotekun.
Abiodun projected that if each of the 36 states recruits about 6,000 police officers, nearly 200,000 additional personnel would be deployed to strengthen internal security nationwide.
Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi described the initiative as timely given Nigeria’s security challenges, urging governors to ensure the swift passage of the constitutional amendment at the state level.
NBA President Afam Osigwe also endorsed the move, saying Nigeria could no longer be effectively policed by a single national force. However, he stressed that the enabling law must contain strong safeguards to prevent abuse of state police powers and protect citizens’ rights.
The inauguration was attended by attorneys-general and commissioners for justice from Plateau, Lagos and Ondo states, representatives of the Inspector-General of Police and the National Security Adviser, as well as other senior government officials.
