President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated a Presidential Working Group to prepare the legal framework for the implementation of state police, appointing his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to head the committee.
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The panel, inaugurated on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, also includes the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police, and a secretariat.
Represented at the event by Gbajabiamila, the President said the committee was established to draft a National Policing Bill that would provide the legal framework for operating state police after the constitutional amendment process.
The inauguration comes after the Senate passed the Constitution Alteration (State Police) Bill, 2026, which seeks to establish a dual policing structure made up of the Federal Police Service and 36 state police services.
Tinubu explained that while the constitutional amendment would create the foundation for state policing, a separate law was required to make the system operational.
According to him, the proposed National Policing Bill will address minimum policing standards, state preparedness, coordination between federal and state authorities, accountability measures, protection of human rights, funding arrangements and the transition of personnel.
He added that the committee had been mandated to produce a comprehensive draft bill for submission to the National Assembly immediately after the constitutional amendment process, while also recommending additional legal instruments needed for a seamless implementation.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Fagbemi, described the initiative as necessary in view of the country's security challenges, urging governors to facilitate the speedy ratification of the constitutional amendment by their respective state Houses of Assembly.
Also speaking, NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN) reiterated the association's support for state police, saying a single national police force could no longer effectively secure Nigeria. He, however, stressed the need for strong legal safeguards to prevent abuse of the proposed state police structure.
On behalf of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun pledged the governors' commitment to the reform, expressing optimism that state assemblies would expedite consideration of the constitutional amendment.
Abiodun said the proposed system reflected Nigerians' long-standing demand for community-based policing and noted that the success of regional security outfits, including Amotekun in the South-West, had demonstrated the effectiveness of decentralised policing.
He added that if each state recruited about 6,000 officers, nearly 200,000 additional security personnel would be deployed nationwide to strengthen internal security and complement the existing federal police.
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