The Federal Government says the National Policing Bill is 90 per cent complete and could be transmitted to the National Assembly within two weeks, advancing efforts to establish state police across Nigeria.
Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this on Thursday, October 15, 2026, following a meeting of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill at the State House, Abuja.
According to a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the committee is working to resolve outstanding issues and incorporate observations from state governors before submitting the proposed legislation.
Gbajabiamila said the working group would hold one final meeting to review the remaining provisions and ensure the bill adequately addresses the requirements for implementing state policing.
“The National Policing Bill is more or less ready for transmission to the National Assembly. We will probably have one more meeting after this to cross the t’s and dot the i’s and make sure every area is covered. So, we are 90% ready,” he said.
He added that governors had raised a few observations that the committee was expected to address within about a week.
“The governors have one or two observations, and we should be ready in about a week or so,” Gbajabiamila said.
He described the proposed legislation as one of the most consequential bills of the Tinubu administration, noting that deliberations had been ongoing since the steering committee began work on August 3, 2026.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani; and Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu.
Representatives of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Nigerian Bar Association and the National Security Adviser also participated in the meeting.
The proposed National Policing Bill is part of wider constitutional and security reforms intended to decentralise policing and allow states to establish their own police services alongside the federal police.
The Senate approved the constitutional amendment seeking to establish state police on June 24, 2026, while the House of Representatives passed its version on July 23, with 311 lawmakers voting in favour.
However, the amendment must still be approved by at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 state Houses of Assembly to meet the constitutional requirement for altering the 1999 Constitution.
Reports indicate that only about six state legislatures had approved the amendment at the time of the latest update, highlighting the work still required to secure the necessary state-level support.
The proposed reform is intended to strengthen local law enforcement and improve responses to security challenges, including kidnapping, banditry, terrorism and communal violence.
