The presidency has urged Nigerians to submit their thoughts on the National Policing Bill, announcing that submissions will close on Thursday (today) by 5:00 p.m.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the president Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, who also serves as chair of the national working group on the policing bill, announced this in a statement on Thursday, urging Nigerians to express their opinions and give recommendations.
“We announced the Policy Advisory Committee, launched a public information portal: nationalpolicingbill.com and opened a national call for memoranda and submissions. The initial submission period closes at 5:00 p.m. on August 13, 2026,” Mr Gbajabiamila stated.
Mr Gbajabiamila said submissions will not be automatically accepted but that the recommendations will be “read, tested and considered”. He explained that the Constitution needs to be first amended to allow the creation of state police alongside federal police, a move that the National Assembly is willing to make.
After the amendment, both chambers of the House need to agree on the same language for the bill before transmitting it to state houses of assembly for approval. The state police bill needs to be approved by 24 of the state parliaments before it can return to Mr Tinubu for the presidential assent required to become law.
“Officers who understand a community’s language, geography and patterns of crime are better placed to gather intelligence and respond quickly,” Mr Gbajabiamila said in his advocacy of the bill.
Still, he said there must be language that limits governors’ powers to commandeer the state police for their personal interest.
“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,” the president’s chief of staff explained.
The former House of Representatives speaker acknowledged and allayed concerns about the timing of the bill, particularly fears that it was framed during election season by coincidence.
“Those concerns are understandable because police power can shape political competition, and the risk of partisan misuse must be taken seriously. But that is an argument for stronger safeguards, not for indefinite delay,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
He cautioned that there is no election-free season in Nigeria, with general and off-cycle elections.
“If government pauses every necessary reform whenever an election approaches, we cede more of our civic space to politics at the expense of governance. In Nigeria, ‘after the election’ can easily become another word for never,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
He called on Nigerians to log on to the portal nationalpolicingbill.com and make their submissions before close of business Thursday.
