Nigeria Must Fix Policing and Get It Right

Femi Gbajabiamila

Nigeria has debated state police for decades. We are now closer than ever to creating it. Yet the harder question is not simply whether policing should be brought closer to the people. It is how to do so without replacing one set of weaknesses with another. That is the purpose of the reforms now under way. The constitutional amendment will create the legal authority for a dual policing system. The National Policing Bill will provide the rules, standards and safeguards that make such a system workable. The two processes are connected, but they are not the same.

Nigeria’s Constitution currently permits only one police force. Section 214 establishes the Nigeria Police Force and prohibits the creation of another police force for the Federation or any part of it. State police cannot therefore be created by executive order, political agreement or an ordinary state law. Both chambers of the National Assembly have approved proposed constitutional changes to allow a Federal Police Service and State Police Services, but the process is not complete. The National Assembly must complete any remaining harmonisation, settle a common text and transmit to the State Houses of Assembly, where it must then be approved by at least 24 of the 36 state parliaments before it can proceed for presidential assent. Until those steps are completed, state police remains a proposal.

Thhe Presidential Working Group is preparing the National Policing Bill while the constitutional process continues. The Bill can be prepared now, but it cannot create state police unless the Constitution is first amended. If the required number of State Houses of Assembly do not approve the amendment, the constitutional basis for state police will not exist. If they do approve it, government should not begin only then to answer questions that can and should be addressed now. The Bill is intended to be the main law governing the new system. It will set national standards for recruitment, vetting, training, pay, pensions, equipment and professional conduct. It will also establish rules for the use of force, complaints, discipline, independent oversight, intelligence sharing, cooperation between police services, sustainable funding and the transition to a dual system.

State police will not appear automatically across the country even after the constitutional amendment and the National Policing Bill become 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. A state that is not ready will continue to be served by the federal police.

Building a system Nigerians can trust

The purpose of this reform is to provide policing that is closer, faster and better informed by local conditions, while protecting every Nigerian from abuse. Officers who understand a community’s language, geography and patterns of crime are better placed to gather intelligence and respond quickly. State governments will also have a clearer responsibility for the security needs of the people they govern. 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. State police services must have genuine authority within their lawful jurisdiction, while every police service remains bound by the Constitution, human rights and the rule of law. The standards should ensure that officers are properly recruited, trained, equipped and supervised, and that citizens have access to credible complaints and oversight mechanisms.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu established the Presidential Working Group to prepare the executive proposal for this framework. Our mandate is to examine the legal, operational and financial questions raised by dual policing and translate the resulting policy choices into a coherent draft for the President’s consideration. The Policy Advisory Committee supports that work. It brings together experienced Nigerians from across policing, security, law, public policy, technology, civil society and government. Its role is to test the policy choices, guide the drafting, identify weaknesses and validate the content of the emerging Bill. The Working Group holds the presidential mandate and remains responsible for the package presented to the President. The Policy Advisory Committee provides expert scrutiny and validation. The Secretariat supplies the research, legal analysis, stakeholder engagement and drafting that turn policy decisions into legislative text.

On Monday, 3 August 2026, 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 p.m. on 13 August 2026. We opened the process at this stage because public participation is most useful while the important choices are still being made. Some Nigerians have expressed concern that the constitutional amendment process did not give them enough opportunity to be heard. Our response is to make this next stage as open as possible. The call for memoranda, the Policy Advisory Committee and the national consultation will bring professional expertise and lived experience into the drafting process before the executive proposal is finalised. Consultation does not mean that every recommendation will be accepted. It means that submissions will be read, tested and considered.

This work does not diminish the National Assembly. The executive has a duty to prepare the legislative proposals it places before Parliament. Parliament has the authority to scrutinise those proposals and decide whether they should become law. As a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, I understand the importance of that distinction. When the National Policing Bill is transmitted, senators and members of the House may debate it, hold public hearings, amend it, rewrite its provisions or reject it. Both chambers must pass the Bill before it can be presented for presidential assent. Consultation before transmission gives Parliament a more coherent and better-tested proposal to examine. It does not replace parliamentary scrutiny.

Why Nigeria should act now

Some concerns have focused on the timing of this reform and the approach of another election season. 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. There is no election-free season for governing. Nigeria holds general elections and frequent 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.

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. This is why public participation matters. How should police services be protected from political interference? Who should investigate serious misconduct? How should federal and state forces share intelligence across state boundaries? How can states fund professional police services without weakening their independence? These questions should not be answered by government alone. We need the experience of police officers and victims of crime, state governments and political parties, lawyers and civil society, traditional institutions, businesses, universities, young people, minority communities and Nigerians in the diaspora.

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.

For more information on the National Policing Bill and the Call for Submissions, please visit nationalpolicingbill.com.

•Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, CFR, is Chief of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.