President Bola Tinubu has appointed his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, as Chairman of the Presidential Working Group on the National Policing Bill.
The committee was inaugurated on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and has been given the responsibility of preparing the legal framework for the implementation of state police across Nigeria.
Represented at the inauguration by Gbajabiamila, President Tinubu said the constitutional amendment passed by the National Assembly provides the foundation for state policing, but the National Policing Bill will establish the legal structure needed for its operation.
He said, “The Constitution Amendment Bill establishes in the framework for dual policing, but it does not operationalise it. That work is left to the National Policing Bill.”
According to the President, the proposed bill will cover key areas such as policing standards, state readiness, coordination between federal and state authorities, accountability, protection of human rights and the transition of personnel.
“The proposed National Policing Bill will include provisions on minimum policing standards, state readiness certification, federal-state coordination, accountability, human rights safeguards and fiscal conditions,” he noted.
Tinubu said the committee is expected to prepare a comprehensive and implementation-ready draft bill immediately after the constitutional amendment process is completed.
He added that the group would also recommend any additional legal instruments needed for the successful implementation of the dual policing system.
“The Working Group has been constituted to produce a technically robust, implementation-ready draft National Policing Bill for transmission to the National Assembly.
“We must not wait until the constitutional process is concluded before beginning this important assignment,” he said.
Members of the committee include the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Chairman of the NGF Committee on State Police, and a secretariat.
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