The Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill has extended the deadline for the submission of memoranda and position papers on the proposed legislation to Friday, August 21, 2026, at 5.00 pm West Africa Time.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the Presidency, on Wednesday, announced that the public submission would close by 5 pm on Thursday, August 13.

In a statement signed by the Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, the group said the extension was intended to ensure that interested individuals, institutions and organisations have adequate opportunity to make substantive contributions to the proposed legislation.

“The Presidential Working Group is committed to ensuring that the process of developing the National Policing Bill benefits from broad consultation and the informed perspectives of Nigerians and relevant stakeholders,” the statement read.

The proposed legislation is intended to provide the operational, administrative, institutional and funding framework necessary for an effective policing architecture that responds to Nigeria’s evolving security needs, while providing appropriate safeguards for accountability, professionalism and the protection of citizens’ rights.

“Given the significance of the proposed reform to the future of policing and internal security in Nigeria, the Working Group considers it important that stakeholders are afforded more opportunity to make substantive and technically sound contributions to the process,” the statement said.

The former lawmaker said legal practitioners, civil society organisations, security sector professionals, state governments, professional bodies, academics, experts and interested members of the public are encouraged to take advantage of the extended window to submit their memoranda and position papers, exclusively through the official National Policing Bill portal, on or before the new deadline.

According to him, developing an effective policing framework required careful consideration of a number of critical issues, including sustainable funding, command and control structures, recruitment and training standards, operational jurisdiction, inter-agency coordination, accountability mechanisms and safeguards against political interference or abuse.

“These considerations underscore the importance of robust stakeholder engagement in developing a framework that is effective, accountable, sustainable and responsive to the peculiar security needs of communities across the federation,” he added.

He noted that at the conclusion of its assignment, the Presidential Working Group will present a final, implementation-ready draft of the National Policing Bill for onward legislative processing.

The Presidential Working Group appreciated stakeholders who had already made submissions and encouraged others intending to participate in the process to take advantage of the extension.

The National Policing Bill portal went live on August 3, 2026, when Gbajabiamila first announced the public consultation window during a press briefing on the reform, at the time indicating that submissions would close after roughly two weeks.

The Working Group is expected to present the completed Executive Bill package to President Bola Tinubu for review on September 3, 2026.

Source: punchng.com

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The Presidency has announced that public submissions on the proposed National Policing Bill will close by 5 pm on Thursday, August 13, 2026, urging Nigerians to submit their views on the planned establishment of state police.

The Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Wednesday, saying the consultation was designed to incorporate the experiences and professional expertise of Nigerians into the proposed legislation.

He said the submissions would be particularly useful in addressing concerns over political interference, oversight, police misconduct and intelligence-sharing between federal and state police services.

He said the consultation would not replace the role of the National Assembly, which would retain the power to scrutinise, amend, reject or pass the Bill when transmitted.

Gbajabiamila urged Nigerians to contribute to the process, particularly on how police services could be protected from political interference, who should investigate serious misconduct and how federal and state forces could share intelligence across state boundaries.

He said, “For too long, the debate has been framed as a choice between effective local policing and protection from political abuse. Nigeria needs both.

“We can bring policing closer to the people while building strong national standards, independent oversight and firm safeguards for every citizen. The time to fix policing in Nigeria is now, and we must see the work through.”

Gbajabiamila also stressed that the proposed state police system must contain strong safeguards to prevent governors from using the force against political opponents, protesters, journalists, minority communities and other citizens.

Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, said although state police could bring policing closer to communities and improve responses to local security challenges, its proximity to state governments raised legitimate concerns about political interference and abuse of power.

He said, “But proximity does not guarantee justice. The concern that governors might use state police against political opponents, minority communities or dissenting voices is serious and must be answered in the design of the law.”

He added that state police services must have lawful authority within their jurisdictions while remaining subject to the constitution, human rights and the rule of law.

According to him, the proposed framework should ensure that police officers are properly recruited, trained, equipped and supervised, while citizens must have access to credible complaints and oversight mechanisms.

Gbajabiamila said the reforms were aimed at creating a policing system that was “closer, faster and better informed by local conditions,” noting that officers familiar with a community’s language, geography and crime patterns would be better positioned to gather intelligence and respond to security threats.

He, however, stressed that the reform must protect citizens from abuse regardless of their political affiliation.

“The law must protect citizens regardless of who holds office. It must protect opposition parties, peaceful protesters, journalists and minority communities.

“It must make unlawful orders easier to resist, misconduct easier to investigate and political interference harder to hide,” he said.

On the legislative process, Gbajabiamila explained that the constitution currently provides for only one police force, the Nigeria Police Force, under Section 214, making constitutional amendment necessary before state police could be established.

He said both chambers of the National Assembly had approved proposed constitutional changes providing for a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, but the process was not yet complete.

According to him, the National Assembly must complete the remaining stages and transmit the amendment to the state Houses of Assembly, where it must be approved by at least 24 of the 36 state legislatures before it can proceed to the President for assent.

He stressed that until those steps were completed, state police remained a proposal.

Gbajabiamila also disclosed that the Presidential Working Group was preparing the National Policing Bill alongside the constitutional amendment process.

He said the Bill would establish national standards for recruitment, vetting, training, remuneration, pensions, equipment and professional conduct, as well as rules on the use of force, complaints, discipline, independent oversight, intelligence sharing and cooperation between federal and state police services.

He said state police would not automatically be established across the country even after the constitutional amendment and the National Policing Bill became law.

“Each state that chooses to establish a service will still need its own enabling law, institutions and funding. It must also meet the national conditions for operation before its officers can begin policing,” he said.

Gbajabiamila said a state that was not ready to establish its own police service would continue to be served by the Nigeria Police Force.

Source: punchng.com

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