State Police: Presidency Closes Public Submissions Today

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

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 aimed at incorporating the experiences and professional expertise of Nigerians into the proposed legislation.

He said the submissions would help address concerns around political interference, police misconduct, oversight and intelligence sharing between federal and state police services.

Gbajabiamila stressed that the consultation would not replace the constitutional role of the National Assembly, which would retain the power to scrutinise, amend, reject or pass thsue Bill when transmitted.

He 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 police formations could share intelligence across state boundaries.

“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,” he said.

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

“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 said.

He added that state police services must operate within their jurisdictions while remaining subject to the Constitution, human rights and the rule of law.

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

Gbajabiamila said the proposed 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 a constitutional amendment necessary before state police can be established.

He said both chambers of the National Assembly had approved proposed constitutional amendments providing for a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, but noted that 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 constitutional 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 governing the use of force, complaints, discipline, independent oversight, intelligence sharing and cooperation between federal and state police services.

He clarified that state police would not automatically be established across the country even after the constitutional amendment and 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 added that states that were not ready to establish their own police services would continue to be served by the Nigeria Police Force.